


SpeedRunner Online

by Kitabug, WhiteRoseFlame



Series: Soul in the Machine [2]
Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cars, Fantasy, Gambling, Gen, Racing, Revenge, VRMMO, Virtual Reality, adrenaline rush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 98,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29057520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitabug/pseuds/Kitabug, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteRoseFlame/pseuds/WhiteRoseFlame
Summary: While the war against the Dragon Slayers rages on in Dragon Lance, Tsukiro Ashimitsu has given his soulmate, Kaori, and his brother, Ryushiro, one request: Stay out of Dragon Lance. For their own safety and sanity, Kaori and Ryushiro have ventured into the world of SpeedRunner Online, a world of adrenaline and thrill chasers. The world is colorful and high-octane, never slowing down for a second. For the players of SRO, there is no finish line until you go bankrupt or die trying to perfect your craft.But every bright and colorful world has its dark side, and eventually, Kaori and Shiro just might find themselves in the middle of SpeedRunner's dark side.
Relationships: OC/OC
Series: Soul in the Machine [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131851





	1. Chapter 1

“What’d you find?”

Kaori Shizuna smirked as she placed the game in her cart and went to checkout. “Not telling~” After purchasing the game, she hit download.

Tsukiro Ashimitsu laughed and turned back to the computer screen. “Alright. Have fun with whatever it is.”

It only took about twenty minutes for the game to finish downloading. Once it was installed, she started the game and laid down on the bed, and put the AmuSphere on.

“Link start...”

The game opened into a black space with her standing on a white podium. In front of her in the black space was a huge, curved screen like a theater screen only holographic. It came to life displaying the name of the game in a blocky but sleek font. The letters started as a metallic red, then transitioned to metallic shades of orange then yellow like fire.

A computerized female voice not unlike that on the very old snowboard racing game known as SSX Tricky came on.

“Welcome to SpeedRunner Online. Create your avatar.”

The screen pulled up a reflected image of her on the left side, and on the right side was what she expected to be your basic customization menu. However, upon more exploration, she began to realize that this was the most involved and detailed menu she’d ever seen.

“Holy shit, that’s a lot of customizing!” Kaori’s eyes bugged out of her head.

“Request help with customization?” The voice sounded again, displaying a panel that asked the same question. Kaori hit “no” on the panel. She wanted to figure this out herself first.

Whenever she made a change to her avatar, she saw herself change in the reflection on the left of the screen. It was like looking in a digital mirror. She could change everything from head size to eye width; the size and shape of her breasts and butt; how wide her hips were; the size of her stomach; how tall she was. Everything was able to be changed.

“Jeez. Now I’m at a loss as of what to do.”

“Request help with customization?” The voice asked again, displaying the panel.

“NO! Stop dammit!” She pressed the “do not ask again” box and hit no. “Well, at least they’re aware of how involved the process is.”

It took her about twenty minutes to customize her avatar. In the end, she went for a silver and purple hemmed tank top with the SpeedRunner logo on it, and a white and purple and black jumpsuit with purple on the inside. The legs and shoulders of the jumpsuit also had the SpeedRunner logo on it, but not so big in text that it was obnoxious. Her boots were white with silver heels and toes and purple and black along the tops. The boots blended in well with her jumpsuit. On her hands were white mechanic gloves with wrist sleeves that ended a few inches up her forearm and purple on the palms. She added a belly button ring and a lip ring just for kicks. On her neck was a black rope necklace with a silver tire pendant on the end. Her hair was her natural violet and pulled up into a mid-ponytail with natural fringe and two long parts on either side of her face that sat on her shoulders. The tips of her hair were white, however. She left her eyes their natural golden color. Her physical features she replicated from her real-life body. Full breasts but not too huge, wide hips, slender waist, and a somewhat athletic build. She also kept her natural brown skin tone.

Once she was satisfied with her look, she confirmed it and entered her username as Murasaki Kitsune.

“Choose your car,” announced the voice.

“Wow! I get a car right off the bat? Cool!”

She chose a make and model she liked, purely on aesthetic for now since she didn’t know much about cars. It was a 2013 Toyota GT86. She picked a plum violet color that was very royal looking. Deep and bright but not too deep. It was a basic car. Everything was the default factory.

“I guess I customize it further in-game,” she hummed as she hit confirm on the car too.

“Standby for transfer,” the female voice said as it showed a loading screen.

A few seconds later, she spawned in, inside a huge, futuristic complex. It was similar to GGO, but more like Speed Racer the movie and less like Halo. There was a racecar in the middle of whatever lobby she was in with a railing around it. Everything was metallic and silver or white, but also very colorful with splashes of color everywhere from banners to holographic screens, to the outfits of the other players. Every color of the rainbow was bright and vivid here, and it was obvious that the creators were diligent in the shade and tone variety available. It was almost too much to look at but also very hypnotic.

“Whoaaa!” She spun around in place, looking around. It looked like she was in some sort of convention center. Or at least that was what it reminded her of. “Okay, I’m going to be very lost for quite some time.”

“I will be back in a flash,” a girl with long caramel hair pulled up into a ponytail called out as she spun around nearly running into another girl. She was quick to zig and step aside with a quick spin. Once in the clear of a collision she turned back and looked at the girl.

“You’re new here, huh?” 

Kitsune turned her head slowly, blinking like she was in a trance. She looked at the girl who was talking to her. She wore a black, baggy shirt that came off one shoulder. It had white lines on the collar and on the bottom of the short sleeves. It was sort of like a jersey but too big for her. She had black jeans and black and purple sneakers. It wasn’t an outfit she was expecting in this game, but she supposed that was a really naive and ignorant thing to assume given she literally just spawned in.

“Um…” Was all that came out of her mouth. She looked around the lobby of wherever she was again.

The girl laughed lightly, shaking her head stepping up to her offering her hand. “I’m Stallion.”

Kitsune reached out and took her hand, shaking it. “My username is Murasaki Kitsune, but you can just call me Kitsune.” Again, she looked around. “Have you been playing this game long?”

“For as long as I can remember,” Stallion chuckled. “So about three years, give or take, and you,” she turned motioning with her head for the girl to follow.

“Ummm,” she looked up at the huge digital clock that was positioned on a wall in the lobby. “I spent about twenty-five minutes setting up my avatar, and I’ve been spawned in for five minutes. So… half an hour?”

She sighed and shook her head as she followed Stallion. “Ugh, maybe this was a bad idea after all. I forgot how bad it feels to be a total noob.”

Stallion smiled warmly at her as she looked back over her shoulder at the new girl. “There is no such thing as a bad idea around here.” She stopped suddenly as she tapped her chin and dazed off into space. The new girl nearly running into her. “I take that back. Whistle and High Roller had a bad idea once. Nearly cost all of us our cars that day.” 

Kitsune blinked rapidly. “Cars? With an ‘s’? As in multiple cars?” She took a deep breath. “This is going to be a long, long road.”

Stallion turned to look at her with a wide smile. “Only if you’re racing Cross Country.” She motioned with her head to come up beside her. “So tell me about yourself? What POS did the game stick you with?”

“I chose the Toyota GT86, year ‘13.” Kitsune smiled sheepishly, twirling a lock of her hair nervously. “Is that a bad choice? I’m kind of clueless about cars.” She hesitated for a moment, her hand in the air. “Um…” She looked at her hands dumbly. “How do I open my panel in this game?”

“Right index finger from left to right.”

Kitsune did just that and up popped a blue panel with white lettering. The organization was the exact same as Dragon Lance, much to her surprise, just with different categories. She went to the category labeled simply, ‘Cars’. There was one. The only one she had. She tapped on it and up popped a slow turning image of the car and its specs. She flipped the panel around.

“I’ll just let you read this. You know more than I do.”

Stallion stepped up to Kitsune’s panel and looked at her car. She flipped through everything so fast, looking at the car, she thought she was making the new girl dizzy. She finished and closed the panel, stepping forward.

“The ‘13 Toyota GT86 is not a bad car. It has a four-cylinder, 2.0-liter engine. 207 horsepower. Top speed of 143 mph. A lot of room for improvement.”

Stallion looked over Kitsune with a smile. “Yep, you got the basics with that baby.” She waved over her shoulder at the girl. “But stick with us, Kit, and you’ll be first-rate by the end of the week. No one will be able to touch your car.” 

“That… sounds amazing.” For the first time since logging in, she let out a sigh of relief and a genuine smile. “So, any basic gameplay info I should know right off the bat? Things I can wrap my head around now.”

“Well right now you are in The Winner’s Circle. You can come here to buy car parts and even a new car if you like, new clothes, talk to other racers, get ideas for your own car, see the newest models they come out with, grab a bite to eat”--she snapped her fingers and looked at her--“and enter monitored races. You can even get the low down on races on the streets. There are other places, but here it’s all in one place.”

“Is this a fictional world or based on reality?”

“A little of both. We’re in Los Angeles, California right now, but there’s a Winner’s Circle in every country.” Stallion informed her. “You can even go to Japan to drift, to Brazil for street racing, to France for the Formula One, St Louis for drag--”

“Drag? Like, cross-dressing?” Kitsune blinked.

Stallion laughed hardily, shaking her head. “Drag racing. If they raced there, you can go there.”

Kitsune laughed with embarrassment, her cheeks dusted pink. She opened her panel once more as they walked onto a moving sidewalk. Instead of moving panels, it was more like a holographic panel with red arrows pointing forward. All they had to do was stand there and it pushed them forward.

“My currency says 50,000 Slips. What’s the story behind the currency name?” She looked up and looked around as they passed several shops and vendors. “Also, where are we going anyway?”

Stallion shrugged. “It’s like the US dollar. I think they call them Slips because when you race there are times you can race for the pink slip of the cars.”

“And that is?”

“The title of your car. If you lose the race, you lose your car.” Stallion looked at her and smiled. “And I wanted a smoothie.”

Kitsune giggled, closing her panel. “Sounds good to me.”

They stepped off the moving sidewalk and took a quick turn to Stallion’s left. She pointed ahead of them at a rather busy diner. “Route 66. The best place to eat here. Their smoothies are to die for. My treat if you want one.”

“Oh, you don’t have to,” Kitsune shook her head. “I can buy my own. At least it’s not like Gun Gale where you only have the piss poor amount of one thousand Credits. And that’s not even in American dollars. One thousand Yen gets you maybe a couple meals in Japan, depending on where you eat.”

“So you’re Japanese?” Stallion asked her as they pushed through the busy diner.

“Hey Stallion!! You racing tonight!?” A guy standing in his booth called out to her as he laughed profusely.

She flipped him the bird, not taking her attention from her new friend.

Kitsune blinked, looking between Stallion and the guy. She was confused as to what the man said or did that called for the universal sign for ‘fuck you’. “Um… Is he a… a rival or something?”

“He’s a rival that’s a friend. In racing, everyone is a rival, even if they are your best friend. But he knows I blew my engine last night against the Gray Ghost.” 

“I see,” Kitsune nodded. She may not have known much about cars, but she knew anything that had a ‘heart’ couldn’t live without it. And for a car, the engine was that vital piece. “So Gray Ghost is your actual rival? Or another friend that’s also a rival?”

Stallion chuckled as they stopped at the counter. “He is part of our team, Thundering Horses.”

“That’s quite a name. Is it named after you?”

“Nope, it’s named after the cars.” When she looked at her still confused, Stallion elaborated. “You know, horsepower. Cars work on horsepower.”

“What can I get you, Stallion?” The waiter asked her, stepping up on the other side of the counter.

Stallion held up her hand in gesture to give them a second. “Thundering is because if you ever heard a herd of horses run it sounds like thunder.”

“Plus, a car with open headers sounds like thunder.” The waiter added as he looked at the new girl. He smiled when she looked at him. “Hence Thundering Horses.” He offered his hand to her. “Hi, my name is Emil. Part of this ditz’s”--he pointed at Stallion--“racing team.”

Stallion cleared her throat at him. “I don't give a shit if she knows my real name.” He barked at her.

Stallion looked to Kitsune. “He is Gray Ghost.” 

“Oh!” Kitsune blinked in surprise. “So you work here too? But doesn’t racing pay enough on its own?”

“Not when you have to replace a 4 29 cobra jet motor.” He told her, he looked at Stallion as he continued. “It was my fault she blew her motor last night so I told her I would help her out in replacing it.” He looked back to the new girl. “And it's safer than the casino.”

Kitsune giggled. “I see. So you got a job to pay her back. How was it your fault, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Eh…” Gray Ghost rubbed the back of his neck. “I adjusted her timing wrong causing a miss fire.” He cringed when Stallion reached over the counter and hit him with a menu that was sitting there.

“Stop! I don’t want to relive it!” She growled at him, hitting him with the menu again. “Get me four smoothies. Strawberry banana, peach mango, mixed berry, and…” She looked at Kitsune. “What flavor do you want.”

“Peach mango sounds great,” Kitsune nodded. When she looked at the menu, she saw they also had chili cheese fries. “Oh! Could I have an order of chili cheese fries, please?” She clapped her hands happily. “I’ve always wanted to try those. They look so gooey and yummy!”

Stallion chuckled. “I try to stay away from gooey things, but the chili cheese fries are good.”

Kitsune giggled. “Hey, I’m in a VR, and if there’s one thing I learned about VRs it’s that they kick ass at satisfying cravings. It’s the one way I can cheat without getting fat.”

Stallion nodded as she chuckled. “So true. Eat until you feel like you’re going to pop and don’t gain an ounce.” She turned and Gray Ghost put their drinks on the counter.

“6 50, Stallion.”

A small panel popped open to her right as she placed her thumb to it to pay the bill. Once it was paid the window closed. “See ya tonight Ghost.”

“Yeah, tonight,” He replied.

Stallion grabbed up the drink tray and the chili cheese fries, handing them off to Kitsune. “Enjoy.”

“So, where are we off to now?” Kitsune asked as she examined the pile of fries, nacho cheese, and beef and bean chili.

“Back to Torque and Frogger. We came here to see the new car they created for the game. It's a GTR. One of my favorite cars. I was thinking of maybe buying it if it wouldn’t wipe out my bankroll.”

“Are cars in this game priced accurately since Slips are equal to dollars?” Kitsune asked as she took up a fry that was heavily loaded with toppings. She shoved it in her mouth and wiped away the toppings that stuck to her lips with her finger. She hummed and closed her eyes. “Oh my God, Tsuki is going to love these. These are right up his alley.”

“Yes and no. They go by the Blue Book price of the cars. So it would be the price if you bought it straight from the manufacturer. Unlike the car lot that hikes up the price a few thousand. And who’s Tsuki?” Stallion looked at her. “He your gay best friend or something?”

Kitsune choked on a fry. She swallowed carefully before bursting into laughter. “Oh God! I’m never gonna let that one go!” She waved her hand around. “No, no. Tsuki is my boyfriend IRL. He’s a gamer too. A pretty good one at that. Right now, he’s probably playing Dragon Lance. He also plays GGO and ALO. I’ll probably drag him into this game once he’s finished being busy with DL.”

“Sorry about that,” Stallion apologized, “I thought Tsuki was a girl’s name. Then again, I can’t say that. There are a lot of names here in the States that are unisex.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s hard to tell with Japanese names unless you know what to look for.” She smiled at Stallion. “His actual name is Tsukiro. In Japanese, the ‘ro’ is a name ending for boy names. ‘Ko’ is the ending for girl names. There are more than that, but those are the most common. His name means ‘moon’.”

“Ah, I thought it was his username. No wonder I was confused.” Stallion chuckled as she reached for her drink as they stood on the moving sidewalk. She lifted it, taking a sip. Lowering it, she asked. “So is there anything else I can fill you in on?”

“How does the racing work here?”

Stallion shrugged as she was taking a drink from her smoothie. “Like any racing takes place. You get a car, you upgrade it, and you go find some sucker you can leave at the starting line.”

Kitsune cocked her head at her with a ‘come on, I need more than that’ look. “You said you were on a team. How does that work?”

“Well to start a team you have to have won at least five races. Then you need at least six members before you can give it a name. Four of those members have to be racers and won at least two races.” Stallion informed her as they stepped off the moving sidewalk. “Like everyone you start at the bottom. Factory car and no racing experience. Though I suggest before you go climbing into something that can kill you and destroy your car”--she pointed back off where they just came from--“you hit the simulators and practice with the type of car you have.”

“And that gives you experience with racing?”

“Very little, but it does help you understand the car and how it handles.” She turned looking pointedly at Kitsune with a very stern look. “FYI. If you want to earn the respect of the other drivers here, know your car better than you know yourself. It saves lives.”

“So that is something for the noobs?”

“Nope, even the most experienced use the simulators. It's great for when you want to do upgrades on your car, with parts or just adjustments. Especially when you’re dealing with undercarriage work. A suspension that is too loose or too tight could cause real problems. It’s also handy if you want to buy a new car and want to know how it handles.”

“So where do you start in the racing scene?”

“The streets, but you have to be careful out there.”

Kitsune nodded. “Racers have their own turfs.”

Stallion chuckled nodding her head. “That’s part of it, but not the worst of it.”

“There is something worse?”

“Mhmm, Cops. If they catch you street racing they’ll cart you off to jail, impound your car, and slap a fine on you that will make you wish you never spawned into the game for the day.” A short, dishwater blond-haired girl, bounced up to them and announced as she grabbed her strawberry banana smoothie from the tray. “Hi, my name is Torque”--she looked quickly to the dark headed girl that walked up beside her--“and this is Frogger.”

“Hello,” Frogger replied shyly.

“Hello, I’m Kitsune.” Both girls were very pretty just like Stallion. The one named Torque seemed really energetic. She was a little taller than herself and had long dishwater blond hair and hazel eyes. Her hair was in a ponytail that she pulled through the adjustment area of the ballcap she wore. She was wearing a light blue form-fitting Tee, blue cut off jeans, and sneakers.

Frogger looked to be Hispanic with her tanned skin and dark--almost black--hair that sat to her shoulders. She had dark brown eyes and a very warm smile. She was the same height as Torque and herself. She was wearing a hot pink, loose-fitting half shirt with blue jeans, and a white jacket that had ‘Thundering Horses’ printed on the back. On her feet she also wore sneakers.

Torque offered her hand with a wide bright smile. “So are you new?” Her hand slipped from the girls as she quickly waved it in front of her. “Forget I asked that. Of course you’re new or Stallion wouldn’t be explaining this to you.”

Kitsune laughed at the girl’s energy. “Yes, I’m new, though I guess I didn’t need to say that. So far I’m liking the sound of this game. It sure is bright and colorful by the way of graphics.” She looked around the complex with a smile. “It’s way cool. There’s so much to do and see.”

She looked to Stallion then Torque. “So this game has law enforcement too, huh? I guess it really **_is_ ** super realistic. How does jail work if you get caught?”

“Well the cops are NPCs so you can’t get out of the charges. If it’s your first offense you get a slap on the hand and all you have to do is pay the impound fee to get your car out. Second offense is a stiff fine and impound fees on the car. Third time, is a three-day jail sentence and impound fees, and the fourth time is a month in jail and you don’t get your car back.” Stallion chuckled. “Unless you jack it out of impound. From there you’re an enemy of the state and always on the run. If you get caught again you better be one rich bastard.”

“So the motto is, ‘don’t get caught and you won’t get caught,’” Kitsune laughed. “So is street racing the only thing beginners can get into for the time being?”

“It’s what gets you started,” Stallion said as she motioned over to the bench the girls had been sitting at. “After you get 25 to 30 wins racing on the street you can move to bracket racing. There you’re not hassled by the cops. It’s on a track and it’s one of the races you have to come here to sign up for. Once you are signed up you get a time and date of when the qualifying pass takes place. From there you have to go to the track and qualify. If you make the qualifying time, you’re in. If not, you’re back to street racing until you can get your qualifying time up.”

“And the qualifying time is?”

“It varies for the make, model, year, and upgrades of your car. They go from the top time of that type of car. If you fall within that bracket, your in.” Torque answered her question.

“But you have to run the quarter-mile three times and in two of those passes you have to run the same time or you’re out,” Stallion informed Kitsune as Torque nodded her head. 

“Um… Maybe explain that in layman terms,” Kitsune giggled sheepishly.

Stallion chuckled and nodded. “Alright, think of it this way. My car can run the quarter-mile in 8.6 seconds. The top time for a ‘69 Mustang is 8.3 seconds. So the bracket for that make, model, and year of the car is 8.3 to 8.8 seconds. They give you a 0.5-second leeway. For me, I would have to take my first pass and my time would have to be between 8.3 and 8.8 seconds, and it is. However... here is the tricky part. I have to run the same time at least one more time to qualify. If I fall under that or go over that on either pass, I am out.” 

“So you have to not only be the same average time compared to similar cars, but you have to have a consistent average time?” Kitsune asked.

“Yes. Now you can break that bracket and set a new top speed, but in doing that, that means you have to hold that top speed for one full season.” Stallion explained.

“How does the game track that top speed and time? Is there a tracker in the car, or on the track?”

“Velocity Speed Gun, and a good old fashioned stopwatch,” Torque replied.

“I see,” Kitsune nodded. “And circuit racing? I remember in the game description that you can even get sponsors.”

“Mhmm, to do that you have to have a crazy amount of experience level, and to get there you have to do a lot of bracket racing, and not just in your area. You have to travel.” 

“Speaking of traveling, how does that work in this game? Is it like fantasy games where you unlock a transport, or is it more realistic?”

“It’s more realistic. You can drive if it’s close enough, take a bus or fly, but if it’s out of your country you have to have a passport. When you go to a new country, when you leave, they stamp your passport with a time, date, and the total races you participated in. You get to spend three days wherever you are going. Once your three days are over you have to return home, no ifs ands or buts. Even if you have a race on the fourth day you have to return home. However, you can turn around and go right back, but again you still only have three days.”

“The neat thing is you get Visa Points which adds days to your visiting time. For every race you take part in--win or lose--in that country, you get these Visa Points and once you reach ten thousand--”

“Eight thousand,” Stallion corrected Torque.

“Eight thousand Visa Points you get an extra day added to your visiting time. Once you reach a full month you can take up homestead there if you want. Which means you can buy or rent a house and even a car from that area.”

“Yeah, that’s the only bad part about traveling. You had better take plenty of parts for your car. Maybe even a whole new car. Because if your car breaks down in another country and your Visa is not maxed, you’re screwed. You have to return home to fix it.”

“When traveling with your car, do you put it in your inventory, or do you have to travel with it physically? Say if you’re boarding a plane?”

“It goes in your inventory, thank God. Because I would hate to pay shipping on a three thousand almost four-thousand-pound car.” Stallion fell silent with an inquiring look on her face as she looked at Kitsune.

“What? Do I have chili and cheese on my face?!” Kitsune wiped her face frantically.

Stallion shook her head. “You’re Japanese, right?”

“Yeah,” Kitsune replied. “Why?”

“Why did you pick the States to spawn into then? Why didn’t you stay in your own country?” Stallion asked her as she shrugged. “Not that I mind. Hey, the more the merrier, but most like to stay in their own area.”

“I wasn’t aware I could choose. I thought it was a random decision the system chose for you,” Kitsune shook her head.

“Stupid game start menu struck again,” Frogger groaned. When Kitsune looked her way she continued. “It’s there, but they put it where you chose your car. Most people get so into making their car they miss it. I have told the Admin they need to move it, but as you can see, or didn’t see.” Frogger giggled. “It’s still there.”

“Well, at least most players get a new experience instead of sticking to a comfort zone,” Kitsune laughed. “I know I’m excited to see Los Angeles. At least from this game’s perspective.”

“It’s crazy wild. This city never sleeps. Like New York,” Torque stated, chuckling.

Stallion shook her head with a soft chuckle as she then looked to Kitsune. “Anything else you want to know?”

“What about living quarters? I doubt it would be wise for the game to let you log in and out and spawn in the middle of the street or a track. Are there hotels or residential areas? Or safezones?”

“The Winner’s Circle is the best place to spawn in and out of game if you don’t want to put out the extra Slips to have a place.” She finished off her smoothie, turned, and dropped the empty cup in the trash next to the bench. “Though if that’s what you're looking for, there are hotels, apartments, and even houses you can rent or buy. Though a warning. If you have a place, your car is automatically placed on the lot, it is no longer held in your inventory. So it's best if you get a place where your car is parked in a secure garage, or a parking garage where there is an electronic gate it’s locked behind with a guard watching the parking area.”

“This game also has car thieves and chop shops. They will strip your car or take it, faster than you can say finish line,” Frogger added. 

“Wow! That’s crazy,” Kitsune’s eyes widened. She finished her fries and tossed the paper boat in the trash, then started on her smoothie. “Other than secure facilities, does the game have any other ways of protecting your car? Alarms or maybe more drastic measures?”

“Drastic? Yeah, sleep in it with a loaded 9, and alarms we got, but they don’t work. If they want your car, it’s gone, alarm or not. It's a waste of Slips. The best way is to join a team. Most of them have their own garage to store and work on their cars in.”

Kitsune nodded as she opened her panel once more, looking for anything else she had questions on. She saw a label named ‘Prestige’ with what looked like a trophy icon and the number 0. “What is this Prestige?”

“Think of it like levels in an RPG. The higher the level, the stronger you are. The way you level up is by gaining experience points. Prestige is the same thing, only it’s calculated a little different. It’s made up of all your stats including win/loss ratio and money won from races. It also comes from the performance of your car, the knowledge you have on cars--yours and others. Your knowledge of **_working_ ** on cars--yours and others--also counts. _Because_. Just because you can tell me what a part is and what it does, don’t mean you know how to work on the car. Your total Prestige Points determines your Prestige Level, and the higher your level, the more you can do in the game. Harder and better races, better cars and parts, bracket and circuit racing, and even certain skills.” Stallion explained the system to her.

“So it’s like a level-up system adapted for a racing game instead of a fantasy game,” Kitsune nodded in understanding.

“Yes, but it’s also helpful to pay attention to what you get Prestige from, because money and winning isn’t the main component of it,” Torque reminded her.

“No it’s not. You have to be just as good of a mechanic as you do a driver,” Frogger added.

“Are players generally open to teaching other players, or are most in the mindset of ‘I scratch your back, you scratch mine?’ And does the game have NPCs that can teach you as well?”

Stallion chuckled. “Who isn’t out for a win-win situation? If I teach you how to build your car that makes it a 3.2-second car... I would like to think you would join our team and help take us to the top.” Stallion shrugged. “But if it don’t work that way. Hey, more power to ya in trying to knock me out of first place. Because I won’t go down without a fight for the gold.”

“And yes,” Frogger spoke up. “There are NPCs, books, and tutorials that will help teach you all of this, but it's nothing like going to the ones that can get you out on the streets doing what you came here to do.”

Kitsune nodded slowly, taking in everything. She just hoped most of it stuck. If not, then it was just a matter of learning by doing. She smiled at the three of them. “Well, thank you for being gracious enough to teach me the basics of the game. And of course, I’ll pay you back for the food. I may not know anything about cars, but I learn quickly. Or at least I hope I will in this case.”

“Don’t worry about the food or the drink. Just being friendly and helping out a new player. Maybe one day we will meet at the starting line,” Stallion told her with a bright smile. “Oh, if you are looking for a place to bunk down when you sign out, the safest place to be until you get a place of your own is Interstate One-oh-Five. It’s a hotel just down the road aways. It’s cheap and close to where they strip race on the highway.”

“Cool. I’ll probably look around town for a bit then log out there for lunch. Does this game have a friends list?”

“Mhmm…” Torque bounced in her seat as she opened her panel. “Can I add you?”

“Of course. You all can if you want.” Kitsune hit accept on the requests when they popped up.

“If you need any help just look us up. There is a small map of the city to the top right of your main panel screen. Tap it and it will open a full-size map. Anyone on your friend's list will show as a small red dot. Tap the dot and it will tell you who it is and where they are. Normally if we are not racing, we are at the garage or the house. The house is 312 53rd Street and you can find the garage in Santa Monica at 900 Ocean Ave. The place is called R&R Rebuilders.” 

“Sounds good,” Kitsune nodded with a smile. Suddenly she frowned. “Oh, and please tell me racing isn’t the only way to make money? I mean, your friend got a job to pay you back, so…”

Torque busted out laughing. “And he is going to be there for a **_long time_ ** busting that hump of his. He has to get ten thousand Slips to pay her back.”

Kitsune’s jaw dropped. “I’m guessing that job doesn’t pay much…”

Stallion chuckled. “Not to build a car, but for a little extra cash to pay, like, rent, food, or gas it’s fine.” She looked to Torque smacking her in the forehead with the heel of her hand. “And he only has to come up with five thousand. He already gave me the first 5.”

Torque pouted as she rubbed her forehead. “You can work anywhere in this game. The best places to work are performance car shops, car lots, and… Yeah, pretty much any place that deals in cars. Oh, but make sure to stay clear of the chop shops. That’s a good way to make enemies real fast around here, and there are the casinos. You can make a quick buck without risking your neck.”

“Great, cause I have a feeling otherwise I’d be pretty broke for a while,” Kitsune laughed. She stood up from her seat and turned around to face them. “Well, I’ll let you three get back to your activities. I’ll see you again sometime. Maybe sooner than later. And thank you for the enlightenment.” She bowed to them out of habit.

Stallion bowed her head to her in respect to her culture as Kitsune turned and walked away. Stallion then looked up at the clock, then to her friends. “Well that worked out well. Two more minutes and they unveil their new car.”

Torque clapped her hands bouncing in place. “I can’t wait to see it. Are you really going to buy it?”

“I got the Slips, and I need a new car until I can get the Stang back on the road. So yeah.”

“But you got two others back at the garage. What about them?” Frogger questioned.

“Those cars are shared between me and Whistle. He still has not decided which one of the two he wants. So until then, they sit.” Stallion grumbled under her breath.

Not too much longer, the three girls headed to the showing.

Meanwhile, Kitsune roamed around the complex a little longer, checking out places that looked interesting before heading outside. Los Angeles in SpeedRunner was futuristic but still looked like the same city she had seen in pictures and on TV. It was like LA had been upgraded in all aspects. The sky was dark and there was a full moon. There were no stars because of the ample amount of lights, but the lights from the buildings and cars were enough to make the city look beautiful. It seemed they were downtown. The girls were right. LA was alive. Almost as much as Tokyo. Maybe even more so. If this was what LA looked like in SpeedRunner, she wanted to know what Tokyo and Kyoto looked like. But for now, she had to familiarize herself with LA.

She didn’t dare drive yet, especially since America was opposite of Japan, so she hopped on a light-rail train that ran by some other source than electricity. Or at least electricity that didn’t need the overhead wires. She sat on the train, looking at the sights as the train went about its route. She transferred a couple of times to see more of downtown and the surrounding areas before placing a marker on her map for the hotel the girls told her about.

She took the train to the location of the Interstate 105 hotel and checked in at the front desk. It wasn’t too much, or at least she didn’t perceive it to be. Only 85 Slips for 24 hours. That gave her more than enough time to sign out, eat lunch, do what she needed to in the real world, then sign back in a bit later.

Before signing out, she sat down on the hotel bed and grabbed the remote for the TV. And by remote, at meant a small, white controller with a single button that popped up a holographic panel that controlled the hologram on the stark white wall. She hit ‘power’ on the panel and the screen came to life. Of course, the first thing that popped up was racing. The top left of the screen said, ‘American Grand Prix, Las Vegas 500’. It was circuit racing. The track was like something out of Speed Racer. The American movie that was. But it was engaging, nonetheless. There were fifty racers and the names and their numbers scrolled along the bottom of the screen in the order of their placement in the race. The cars were all different colors, makes, and models with stickers and logos all over them.

So this was the NASCAR type racing they talked about. It looked like a lot more fun to watch than racing IRL. The track was like out of a video game. She laughed at how dumb that sounded in her mind. She **_was_ ** in a video game. One she had a lot of work to do in.

She had caught the tail end of the race with five laps to go. When they reached the last lap, the flagman waved a white flag for the last lap. She didn’t pay too much attention to the announcers, she wanted to watch how the racers drove their cars. On the last lap, a racer with the number 10 on their car that was obviously sponsored by a company called Hot Roddin’ crossed the finish line first. The colors were red and white with some yellow. Once the other cars were clear of the track, the winning racer did a spin-out, sending white smoke everywhere. As they pulled into the winner’s circle, fans and press swarmed the car. The driver, a girl surprisingly with long blonde hair wearing a matching jumpsuit, climbed out of the car.

Smiling, Kitsune turned the TV off and sat the remote down. She opened her panel and hit sign out. She really did have a lot to do in this game. But that was the fun of starting a new game. The only place you had to go was up.


	2. Chapter 2

Instead of signing back in right away after lunch, Kaori decided to spend the rest of the day with Tsukiro. They went out to eat and hit a few stores before heading home and having more time to themselves in the real world before Tsukiro signed into Dragon Lance and Kaori signed into SpeedRunner. She had told him about the game and meeting Stallion, Torque, and Frogger. Tsukiro had laughed at Frogger’s name, wondering where she got the name from. She promised she’d find out from her the next time she saw the girls. He was excited to try the game himself, to say the least, but he still had a lot of work to do in DL. And so after they grew bored of their pillow talk they hopped in the shower to wash up, then returned to the bed to enter their respective games.

“Link start!” Kaori said with much more enthusiasm than the first time.

As expected, it was almost six-thirty in the AM in SpeedRunner, given that it was about seven-thirty PM of the same day in Japan. When Kitsune walked outside of the hotel, the sun was just barely rising. She opened her friend's list to see that none of the three were on at the moment. So she decided to head to The Winner’s Circle to check out the simulators they told her about.

Once again, she took the train, but she was hoping by the time she finished with the simulators, she’d be able to drive her own car outside of them. It didn’t take long for her to reach her destination. Once inside The Winner’s Circle, she went to the directory that was stationed between two blue stones that hovered in midair. She found the location of the simulators on the map then tapped it, discovering she could transport directly there, or anywhere else in the complex, from the directories.

Kitsune was transported just a few feet from the entrance to the Simulator Hall. The doors opened on their own as she stepped up to them. The inside was themed in pale blues, electric blues, whites, and light greys. The simulators looked like pods about half the size of a two-seater Smart Car. They were grey colored with electric blue lettering and stripes that said “SpeedRunner Simulator Pod”. Inside was a steering wheel and the basic controls of a car, but minus all the other things that made a car, a car. There were six pods on either side of the room that was shaped like a long hallway but was very wide. On either end of the room were waiting areas that had small cafe stands that sold food and drinks and even reading material and other things to pass the time. And of course, there were TVs positioned all around for viewing races and other programs.

And it seemed like all the pods were taken. There were several people on either side of the room in the lounge areas, but she wasn’t sure if they were waiting on pods or just hanging out. She sighed lightly and worked her way down to the cafe on the far side of the room. She wondered if there was some sort of sign-in panel to reserve a session or if it was first come first served. She went up to the cafe counter and ordered an iced caramel macchiato to sip on while she looked around and maybe asked questions.

Walking up to the young girl at the cafe, an NPC waitress approached her. She smiled cheerfully. “Are you waiting on something or someone, Miss, or do you need help with something maybe?”

Kitsune smiled back at her and shook her head. “No, I’m by myself, but I was wondering if there is a sign-up area to use the simulators or if they are first come, first served.”

“Oh, my!” Her hand lifted to her cheek. “You did not see the Sign-in podium? I hope many did not sign in while you were here getting your drink.”

Kitsune giggled and waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, no. I haven’t been here that long. It’s fine. I can always come back later if need be. Where’s the sign-in located?”

“It’s in the room with the Simulators, did you not enter the area where the pods were?” The waitress asked her.

“I did, but…” Kitsune looked back through the glass doors that led to the simulator room. “Maybe I passed it up and didn’t realize it.”

“You should not have missed it. It is right in the center of the room. Hm?” The NPC hummed averting her eyes upward as her hands went to her hips.

“Ah…” Kitsune gave her a forced smile. “I’ll go back and sign in then. Thank you so much.”

She stood up and moved over to the table that was reserved for players to put their food and drinks on since they couldn’t take food or drinks into the simulator room. Once her drink was left at the table, she went into the simulator room and went up to the panels located in the center of the room. She hit the sign-in option on the panel and entered her username and the time she was signing in. She looked at the clock at the bottom of the screen and tapped on 6:46 AM. Once she got a confirmation of her sign-in sent to her PMs, she smiled and turned to head back into the cafe, but before she could exit the simulator room a pod opened and a guy with super short hair rolled out and pounded the floor with a clenched fist.

“No! No! No! I can’t be dead! I did just like they told me!”

Kitsune looked at the guy rather confused as she heard another yell out.

“SHUT UP GRIM!! GO CRY TO YOUR MAMA!!”

Dramatically, the guy lifted to his knees, his hands in the air but clenched tightly as he shook his fists at the ceiling. “Don’t talk about my mama! I LOVE MY MAMA!”

Kitsune couldn’t help but giggle uncontrollably at the scene before her. Apparently, she was a little loud in her amusement because the blond looked over at her with wide eyes. Kitsune gasped and covered her mouth. “S-sorry…”

Grim looked the direction of the giggle as he stood dusting himself off, of, well, nothing. “Sorry, you had to see that. I just smashed a sixty million Slip car into a wall. It hurt. My pocketbook that is.” He smirked at her stopping a few feet in front of her offering his hand. “I am the Grim Reaper, and you are?”

She wanted to ask, ‘they make cars that expensive?’ but the last thing she wanted in this game was to make it painfully obvious that she was a clueless female in a game about cars. So she just smiled brightly and shook his hand.

“Sorry to hear it. I’m Murasaki Kitsune, but you can just call me Kitsune. Or Kit. Whichever floats your boat is fine with me.” She tilted her head at him in curiosity. “Did someone give you bad info?”

“Yeah, a buddy of mine. I am learning how to drift, and he gave me the wrong instructions on how to do it,” Grim told her.

Kitsune’s face lit up in pure joy. It was the one thing she actually knew how to do. A useless piece of knowledge gained simply from being a fan of the Fast and Furious series. “Oh that’s easy! In theory anyway. You just turn right to go left and pull the E brake! Right?!” She answered in a way that one might think she was way more of a car fanatic than she actually was.

Grim blinked at her as they stood there for a few seconds. “Riiight. Turn right to go left.” He quickly got in her face. “What are you smoking because I want some.”

Kitsune’s face fell into a deep frown and her jaw popped open. She leaned back away from him, raising her arms in front of her chest in an uncharacteristically girlish manner. She blew it. Less than twenty-four hours in this game and she already made herself look like a total fucking idiot.

“Uh, um… I just… It was something a friend of mine said… Though I think he got it from that animated movie. But… Uh… I-I’m sorry…”

Suddenly another guy popped out of the pod next to the Grim Reaper’s as her name was then called for the free Pod. The voice sounded similar to the one she heard when she first started the game, only this time it was clearer and sounded more like the ‘Help Desk Girl’ from Ratchet & Clank.

“Murasaki Kitsune your simulator is now ready.” A green light flicked on over the simulator.

Kitsune looked over at the pod then back at Grim. She shuffled sideways to try and get away from him. “Well, it looks like my session is starting so… Um… S-sorry--”

“Oh no you don’t,” Grim announced as he grabbed her wrist. “Add me.” He told her as he opened his panel and started typing in her username.

“Wh-what?! Add you?! You got in my face and then you grabbed me!” She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. “I think you need to apologize first, Mr. Grim Reaper. You don’t just grab a lady like that without permission unless you’re her boyfriend!”

Grim laughed. “It’s not like I grabbed your ass or your tit and calling me mister is like putting an elevator in an outhouse.” 

Kitsune raised her eyebrow at him, blinking. “That’s… a unique sense of modesty you have...” She sighed and asked him more calmly this time. “Alright, fine. But why do you want to add me all of a sudden anyway when I gave you that kind of an explanation?”

“You have to be friends, or well, on one another’s friends list to share a session. And your information couldn’t be all that wrong. Hell, it worked for Lightning McQueen.”

Kitsune flushed scarlet at his words. She forgot she was in the US in this game, which meant most of the players here were probably from the US IRL.

“Last call for Murasaki Kitsune. Your simulator is ready.”

Kitsune’s eyes glanced over to the pod. “Ugh! Okay, fine!” She opened her panel and hit accept on his request. “Hurry up! I don’t want to lose my session!” She ran over to the pod and hopped in.”

Grim walked over and climbed in the pod looking over at her before he closed the door. “Let’s drift pretty lady.” His door closed on the pod before she could say anything more to him.

“Right. Drift,” Kitsune sighed as the simulation loaded after she placed her thumb to a small panel. Suddenly her eyes widened and she vice gripped the wheel. “Oh my God, I just told him I knew how to drift. Oh my God! I’m so screwed!!”

When hers finished loading, it popped up a message that asked her if she wanted to connect her session with Grim Reaper’s. She hit accept and she was transported into a VR within the VR. The track was a standard oval race track. Easy for drifting. She sat inside the car she picked out when she started the game; her purple Toyota GT86. She looked to her left and saw Grim inside a car of his own next to hers. His car was an orange and black Mazda RX7 that sat low to the ground.

Kitsune noticing she had on a headset, she tapped the side of the earpiece, bringing the mic to life. No way was she going to have this guy mad at her if she couldn’t deliver on her supposed knowledge on the topic of drifting cars. 

“I have something to tell you!” She said to him. “I don’t actually know how to drift!”

“I know,” Grim said back.

“I mean, I do in theory, but I haven’t done it in a car.”

“I know,” he repeated.

“I haven’t even been in this game for ten hours.”

“I know,” he grinned at her as she gave him an odd look.

“I’ve only ever drifted in console games.”

“That I did not know, but I figured it was something like that,” Grim informed her.

Kitsune stared at him silently for a long time, wondering what to say. Eventually, she gave him a distressed look and pointed at her steering wheel. “The wheel is on the wrong side…”

Grim chuckled. “It’s no different in reality. If you can drive IRL, you got this.” He smiled over at her from his car. “Want to know how I knew all this about you?”

She wobbled her head up and down, squeezing the steering wheel. She was starting to think either he was psychic or this was a prank.

Grim smirked at her. “No real racer would give technical advice quoted from a Disney movie.” He sat back up looking her way once more. “Ready to learn how to race?”

Kitsune blushed in embarrassment and huffed with a pout. “You want me to psych myself up first? Cause I can recite ‘I am speed’ if you want me to.” She was joking but she really hoped he didn’t take her up on that.

Grim chuckled hardily shaking his head. “If it helps, be my guest, but I just crank the jams and go with it. Speed is all you need, Kit. Speed...Is  **_all_ ** you need.”

Kitsune sighed and let out a deep breath. “Okay. Speed. Right. Speed… but don’t crash. And don’t get caught.” She looked back over at him. “When do we go?”

“See that pretty girl coming our way?” When she nodded, he continued. “When she says go. Punch it.” He looked her way and grinned. “And I don’t mean the dash.” A few seconds fell on the airwaves when Grim spoke to her once more. “Kitsune, when you come upon the corners stay off the inclines of the corners stay low and on the inside of the track.”

Kitsune nodded and took another breath as she watched the girl come closer and stop in front of them. She could barely hear over her engine and especially Grim’s. Thankfully the girl had her hand up. She trained her eyes on the girl like a hawk. After a few seconds, her hand came down. She probably said ‘go’ but Kitsune wasn’t even watching her mouth. Instinctively she slammed down on the gas and the car lurched forward, sending her slamming back into the seat.

Grim took off way ahead of her, but Kitsune didn’t even care. She was too busy going into panic mode, freaking out over the idea of racing. The corner was speeding towards her and she had no idea what to do except turn. Was it like a regular turn or was there something else she had to do? She glanced back and forth between the road and the speedometer. The needle was fast approaching ninety, but suddenly the car lapsed like it was stalling. Her eyes darted around, terrified that she was going to crash. She knew she had to keep her heart rate down or the game was going to eject her. “Grim! Something is wrong with my car!”

“Take your foot out of the motor,” Grim called to her over the headset. “You’re going to spin a bearing and blow that motor.”

“W-what does that mean?! You said punch it!” She called back as she started to lift her foot off the gas.

“Listen to me. First, you need to calm down. Look at the dash. You see your MPH?” When she hummed in acknowledgment he went on. “Next to it is the RPMs. That is how hard your motor is working. If it gets in the red, you’re going to waste your motor. That car is factory so pushing it too hard will be a bad thing.”

Kitsune backed off on the gas until the needle fell a few RPMs. “How do I speed up if I can’t give it more gas?” She slowed down to about thirty MPH, slowly approaching the end of the corner and waiting for Grim to tell her what she was doing wrong.

“Hold up. Coming around to your right.” Grim sped past her as he chuckled into the headset. “Dear, you have to go faster than that. Get it up to 70 MPH.”

She huffed and pushed on the gas gradually as she came off of the turn. She pushed down inch by inch until she reached the speed he wanted her to go. She took the turns better than she thought she would, somehow staying comfortably between the inner green and the outside wall.

“What now?”

“I want you to stay at 70. When you go around the corners, I want you to take it slow and on the inside. At the lowest angle of the turn.”

“What does that mean?” She growled.

“Stay down here.” He zipped around her. “Watch.” As he went around the next corner, he took his car down toward the inside of the track and stayed there through the inner corner. When he came out of said corner, he rocketed out toward the wall. “Don’t worry you won’t do that at the speed you’re going.”

Kitsune did her best to mimic Grim’s driving only slower. When she came to a turn, she slowed down and rode the inner lane around the corner, then came out of it and switched to the center of the track, speeding back up. When she came to the next turn, she did the same thing. She did a few laps like this before Grim called out to her again.

“I am going to get in front of you. I want you to speed up to 75.” He looked behind him as he passed her, slowing down he got in front of her. “Now let’s play follow the leader. You know how to play that game, right?” He did not give her time to answer. “You do what I do. I won’t get above 80 so you stay steady at 75. When I tell you to speed up though you need to speed up. Alright?”

Kitsune nodded, forgetting to say something in response until the last second. “Okay.”

She followed him the best she could, staying steady at 75, which was something she could do easily. Thankfully he took it easy on her for a bit. But just when she got comfortable, he switched it up.

“Stay with me, girl. This is racing you don’t fall behind. You fall behind you lose,” Grim told her. When he saw her speed up, he smiled to himself. “Good. Now on the next corner, we are going about midpoint. That’s the center lane out of the three lanes on the track that will be about a 24-degree angle, so you will need to speed up, and I don’t mean a couple of miles. You’re going to feel your car pulling back to the inside.  **_Don’t_ ** let that happen.”

“Pull back to the inside?” She blinked and looked to the inner side of the track. “You mean I’m going to slide down the incline?!”

“If you’re not going fast enough, yes. You will feel gravity working against you and the more throttle you give it the more the car will stop pulling against you.” He fell silent for a second. “Here we go!” Grim announced as he sped up going higher into the corner showing her the course to follow.

Kitsune did what he said, going into the turn higher. As soon as she went into the turn, she felt it. Like something was pushing the car sideways. She hit the gas, and the more gas she gave it, the easier it was to climb the slope back up. She held the wheel steady and sped up, even more, inching closer and closer to Grim until they were side by side with him on the side closest to the wall. It was like a battle between her and gravity to keep the car on the high end of the turn. It felt like all the racing games she had played before when the controller rumbled madly while you stuck close to the outer edge of the track while drifting. Except this was way more than that. This was a VR dedicated to real-life simulation of what it was like to race a car.

Kitsune laughed in pure joy, shouting as they came off the turn and she slowed down. “That was so fucking cool!!” She laughed madly. “Holy shit!”

Grim laughed with her. “Feeling that need yet?”

“Hell yeah! Let’s do this!” She looked at the RPM gauge, then the speedometer. “How do I go faster without blowing up and crashing?”

“Don’t let the RPMs get into the red. With the factory motor you have, it can’t handle it in long durations. Hell, even the high-performance motors can’t handle it. When you first got out here you were so nervous you just floored it and held it there. That’s a no-no. Work at the speed you can handle and work your way up.” Grim smiled to himself then called out to her. “Gun it! Here comes the next corner. Stay center or high. Do not go in low at high speeds with you being inexperienced.” Before she could even ask, he told her why. “It will slingshot you into the wall when you come out of the corner.”

“Okay.”

Kitsune slammed on the gas for a couple of seconds, then let off, then slammed on it again. Instead of working the motor to death, she coaxed it up to a high speed, taking the turn a little higher once more. This time she came upon Grim on his right side, hugging the wall. Except she scraped it. The car jerked and she had to hold the wheel steady and let off the gas to keep it from hitting the wall again.

“Oops,” she said with a grimace. “Good thing this isn’t my real car.”

As they came out of the corner Grim shook his head looking over at her as she rode beside him. “Don’t rev the motor like that. Punching the gas and letting off and punching it again does nothing. You want to keep it steady. Punching it like that is as bad as feathering the gas.  **_Always_ ** keep the gas flow steady.”

“Okay,” Kitsune nodded.

When they came to the next turn, she tried again, taking the highest point and pushing the gas almost all the way down but without flooring it and keeping it steady. She figured if she pushed it any more, that would be it. So this must be the top speed her car could handle for the time being. After all, she was driving the most basic of cars. No work done. No upgrades. It was like using a basic sword with no gems or upgrades or honing. You wouldn’t fight a boss with a basic sword, so why would you race at high speeds in a basic car. That was the trick to this. She had to think of it in terms of fantasy RPGs. She couldn’t go past your limit until you get better gear.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this,” she said to Grim as they practiced a few more turns.

“Good. Because we are going to slow this down and try something new. You ready?” Grim asked her.

“Yup! What are we doing this time?” She asked as she slowed down.

“We are going to get you used to how your car handles. On the straight stretch, I want you to turn your wheels side to side, not a lot, but enough to get the car to swerve slightly left to right. I want you to pay attention to the car’s reaction time every time you change up.”

“So how long it takes for the car to do what I tell it to?”

“Yes,” Grim replied.

Kitsune took a deep breath and did as he told her. She moved the wheel left and right, driving in a snake motion. She counted seconds between the motions. Usually, there was a half-second to a full second in between when she moved the wheel and when the car actually made the motion.

Grim watched as he followed behind her. The suspension on her car was loose, not bad, but it needed to be a little tighter. With her being a noob it did not need to be hyperactive, but it needed a good reaction time--better than what it had. “Ok coming up on a corner. Drive normal.”

“I did all that and now you tell me to ‘drive normal’?” Kitsune let out a scoff.

Grim chuckled. “I meant stop swerving all over the place. You want to race then race, but I will have lapped you twice before you get around this track once.”

“Well, then I guess I have a goal to reach,” Kitsune smiled. She sped up and held the wheel steady. She took the center of the turn this time, speeding up and slowing down when necessary. “What now?”

Grim chuckled looking at the time on the session. “We got enough time for you to take a few more laps. Go for it. I will be here. Just look for the orange and black streak.” He watched her nod, taking off like a lightning bolt.

It was a few laps later and Kitsune was not only getting more and more comfortable with her driving but was really starting to enjoy it. The adrenaline was pumping, and the more she drove, the more confident she felt. On one of her last laps, she took a turn fast, going about a hundred and ten. However, instead of going high, she went low without thinking about Grim’s warning. She only realized it when she was halfway into the turn and she had to use all her arm strength to hold the car steady to the inner corner.

“Shit! Shit!” She cursed as she hugged the corner as best she could. She heard Grim shouting at her over the headset to ‘HOLD IT’. She was too horrified and focused to respond back.

When she came to the end of the turn, she couldn’t slow down quick enough to keep the car from making a beeline towards the wall. However, she was just able to barely get it under control. She straightened the car out with a couple of inches to spare before she hit the wall.

She let out a sigh of relief and slowed the car down to a stop, putting the car in park. She leaned back in her seat and sighed again. “Okay. I’m done.”

Grim was laughing at her as he killed the link and climbed out of the pod walking over to hers, opening the door to it he looked down at her. She was limp in her seat, her head resting to the back of the seat. “Good save,” he told her offering his hand to help her out. “Careful.” He told her as she placed her feet on the floor. “After a scare like that, your legs are going to feel like rubber.”

She took his hand and carefully got out, standing slowly and holding onto his hand for support until she was sure her legs could support her weight. “Wow. That was crazy…” She felt a chill and shivered. When she looked down at her bare arms, she saw she had been sweating. “Eewww!” She cringed. “Great! Now I’m gonna have to take  **_another_ ** shower when I log out!”

“Try that shit IRL and you’ll do more than sweat,” Grim told her.

Kitsune smiled up at him. “So do you race IRL? Or just from the safety of an AmuSphere?”

Grim nodded. “Both. There are a few of us in here that race IRL as well as in game. You will learn who they are quick enough.”

Kitsune nodded back. “Well, I should repay you for the lesson. I would not have made that much progress by myself in there. So maybe I could treat you to a meal or something at least.” She shook a finger at him. “As friends. Otherwise, you’ll be at the mercy of my boyfriend.”

Grim chuckled. “I figured as much. You just seem like the type to have a boyfriend and don’t worry I have a girl of my own, and I like my balls where they are.” His hands lifted in surrender. “So yeah, just friends.”

Kitsune smiled and nodded. “Great. You got anything to do now, or are you done in SpeedRunner for the day? If you are, we can meet up another time. I was going to swing by a friend’s place before I log out anyway. Now that I got some racing knowledge under my belt, I need to learn about what actually makes that possible.”

“Nope, today is my day off so I am pulling the slacker card for the day.” His hands slid into his jacket pockets as they started walking off from the pods. “So, not even been in the game for 24 hours and got friends here other than me, huh?”

She nodded with a smile. “Yup. I’ve gotten very lucky so far. I met three girls who filled me in on the basics of the game. Stallion, Torque, and Frogger. Pretty cool names if you ask me. Oh! That reminds me! My boyfriend wanted me to ask Frogger about her name,” Kitsune giggled. “Hopefully it’s not because she likes to play in traffic.”

“Weelll~” Grim replied with a tilt of his head. “I guess it depends on your definition of traffic.”

Kitsune blinked up at him. “Do you know those three?”

“I know all nine of them,” Grim confessed.

“Nine? Oh, you mean the team. Wait… are you on their team?”

“No, but at one time Whistle was trying to recruit me. They’re a great group, but I had already been asked to join Viper.” He gave her a pointed look. “So who approached who when you met the girls?”

“Well, actually I was standing there like a zombie looking at everything with my mouth hanging open,” Kitsune laughed, “and then Stallion almost bumped into me. Of course, she could tell I was new, so she helped me out and then treated me to a smoothie and chili cheese fries.”

Grim chuckled as his head nodded. “Yeah, she has a knack for that kinda stuff. She must have seen something in you if she did not just leave you there.”

Kitsune blinked. “So she’s not normally that generous?”

“Oh yeah, she’s a really sweet girl, but to just hand out information of where she lives or hangs out is another thing.” The two stepped on the moving sidewalk as they talked. “Stallion will take raw talent under her wing and make them a top racer then cut them loose.”

“I… I see…” Kitsune wasn’t sure what to believe. Or who to trust. “But why would she do that? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial if she trained them then had them join the team?”

“You would think, but to hear her tell it there is no talent out there. Her Mustang has sat at the top of the street racing circuit for years now.” He chuckled. “Well that was until Ghost blew it up. I think everyone in this VR heard her rip him a new one.”

“How did he blow up her car? Was he driving it? But then she said she was racing him, so how was it his fault?”

“Ghost is a mechanic and Stallion was trying to get top speed out of her car. The car runs 8.6 in the quarter. She wants to break the record of 8.3 for her make, model, year, and upgrades. I don’t know the whole story, but I heard it had something to do with the timing. Well...” Grim fell silent. “When they hit the track her motor shot craps, threw a rod and the number four piston went flat.” 

“Um… so in newbie terms… what happened,” she laughed sheepishly.

Grim laughed. “The block needs to be bored over and she needs new heads?” Her head shook causing him to laugh again. “Ok, without a visual you will not understand.” He looked around seeing one of the directories.

He walked in its direction motioning to her to follow. When she stepped up to him, he touched the directory screen and it went black as what looked to be an address bar popped up. He typed in the words ‘Diagram of a Car Motor’ and hit search. After a second or two one popped up on the screen.

“Ok, this...” He presented the diagram to her. “Is what makes your car go.” He flicked his fingers across the screen as the diagram of the motor exploded into its individual parts and pieces. He chuckled when her eyes widened. “Yes, there is a lot to it.”

“Okay… so… You said something about a timer. Let’s start with that. How does it have a timer? Is it like a bomb or something?”

Grim facepalmed as he laughed. “Timing, Kit. Not timer.” He pointed to a belt that was located behind a plate on the lower front of the motor. “This is a timing belt. It has to be set with the distributor.” He pointed at the said part which was on top of the motor. “By loosening the bolt here.” He pointed at said bolt. “You can lift and turn the distributor. You either advance it or retard it. In doing so you take it off top dead center. If you do this and it’s too far one way or the other the car will either not start or misfire.”

Kitsune nodded in what she felt as basic understanding. She understood the words he was saying, and she understood the visuals he was giving her, even though she didn’t understand the deeper meaning behind why these things were the way they were. It was like taking her accounting classes all over again.

“Okay. So far so good. So Ghost thought by moving that thing, he could make her go faster, but he ended up sabotaging the motor instead. So when she drove the car.” She made loose fists and then popped her fingers out like an explosion. “Kaboom.”

“Kinda.” He lifted his hand again pointing to a thin rod that was a little longer than an unsharpened pencil.

There were 16 more just like it. It too was on top of the motor and under a long thick looking part that seemed to have holes in it.

“This is a rod. It sets under the lifter that is attached to the head.” He pointed to each part as he named them. “When Stallion tested this theory it caused this”--he pointed at the rod and a new part--“the piston to react wrong and it caused damage to the block.”

With a pointed finger, he drew a circle around a huge solid piece of the engine which was the block. Kitsune nodded with a bob of her head. “I see.” She turned to Grim with a hopeful look in her eye. “Could you teach me about cars too? Not just racing. You’re a pretty good teacher, and if Stallion is just going to teach me then toss me to the birds, then I’d rather find someone who will be on my side for the long run. I  _ will _ not be someone else’s trash.”

“Sure, I will help you out, but don’t get your panties in a bind. Stallion is a hard one to read. She might want to keep you around and if she does, she and her brother and their group can teach you far more than I can. IRL, Whistle, and Stallion’s parents are into cars just as much as their kids are. Their mother is a salesperson for a major car dealer and their dad is an auto repairman. Whistle is a mechanic and Stallion just fell into the middle of the mess.” He looked at her and wiped the screen as it went back to the directory. “They are also two of the few that race IRL.”

Kitsune hummed, thinking deeply about her situation. It would be stupid to ignore the opportunity to learn from Stallion and her group, but if she did take them up on the learning opportunity, she had to be one hundred percent clear on their intentions. She wasn’t going to go getting her hopes upon being a part of a great group just to be given the boot.

“Alright then. I’ll see what they want. But if they have no intention of helping me any further than to just give me a head start, then I’ll only take from them what I can payback. I get the feeling this is one game I don’t want to owe favors in. Probably the other way around.”

“As long as it is to the right people, you’re good. Because here between the real racers. You get what you give. One for all and all for one. Sure, there are a few of us that don’t get along so well, but they got a brother’s back when the shit starts flying. If they're trying to keep things from you and only sharing trivial knowledge… They’re no good and you need to cut out as quick as you can. Because real racers stick together and know when we race there is no drugs and no booze. That’s idiocy in itself. There are some that don’t care and put us all in danger because they want more than a natural high.”

Kitsune shook her head with a scoff. “Dumbasses. Doing that sort of thing in VR will only lead to them doing it IRL.” She looked back at him. “In any case, where should we go to eat? Your choice since you helped me out.”

“Aww! Really!?” Grim leaned back from her with a shocked look. “You mean to tell me you have met Stallion and she did not tell you the best place around here to eat?!”

Kitsune laughed and nodded. “Well, she did tell me about Route 66. We went there and met Ghost actually. Is that where you want to go?”

“Hell to the yess,” Grim replied with a soft chuckle then offered his arm as the moving sidewalk came to an end. “Shall we?”

“Aww. The Grim Reaper is a gentleman,” Kitsune smirked as she took his arm. “At least death will hold the door open for me when I die.”

“Hey! My mama taught me how to treat a lady.”

She giggled again as they made their way to the best diner in The Winner’s Circle.

\---

It was a couple of hours later after Kitsune sat and ate with Grim. They talked for a while, getting to know one another aside from racing and cars. They made plans for future practice sessions. One in the simulators again, and then one in her actual car if she was ready for it. Kitsune was excited, to say the least.

After they parted ways, Kitsune made her way outside and over to a parking lot nearby where she took her car out of her inventory for the first time. She stood and marveled at it for a moment before getting in the driver’s side on the left. It felt unnatural for her, but after spending time in the simulator, she was used to it enough to where she was confident enough that she could handle it. She just had to remember to do the opposite of what she did IRL in Japan.

She clicked her seat belt then looked around the car, realizing she had no keys. She blinked and opened her panel, going back to her inventory. She saw an item labeled ‘Toyota GT86 Fob’. She took it out and it materialized, landing in her hand. There was a key with a fob remote attached. Smiling, Kitsune stuck the key in the ignition and turned. The car came to life and off she went, pulling out of the parking lot and into traffic.

Driving was pleasant, and it only took her about twenty minutes to get to the address of the Thundering Horses’ garage, located on the coast of Santa Monica. She could smell the sea even more strongly now. She wished she could bottle that smell. She parked right outside the garage, seeing that two of the bay doors were pushed up. She could see people inside working on cars and conversing. Some of them turned to look at her when they heard her car pull up. Kitsune killed the engine and stepped out of the car, closing the door and locking it before putting the keys back in her inventory. She walked inside confidently, not letting anyone see her nervousness.

“Hello, everyone,” she smiled at them. “I’m looking for Stallion. Is she here?”

A tall, stout guy with short, light brown hair pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. He was working on a white ‘66 Impala with another guy that was tall as well with shoulder-length cotton blond hair. He was thin but a good tone build. Both were in T’s and jeans. The tall thin guy was wearing cowboy boots. Both had grease up to their elbows.

“Thanks,” Kitsune replied as the eyes of both guys stayed on her.

“Careful. She likes to throw tools and she is pulling the motor in her car.” The tall thin one told her.

Kitsune smiled at them. “It's okay. I'm good at dodging.”

She made her way to the back where she heard cursing and yelling in a female voice. She saw Stallion dressed in a black jumpsuit and standing off against Emil. She had a wrench in her hand, raised over her head like Winry Rockbell. Emil was on the defensive.

“Dammit Stallion! I said I was sorry!”

“I don't want sorry! I want my fucking motor fixed!”

Stallion threw the wrench but missed him. It sailed past him and at Kitsune. However, she caught it with ease, snatching it out of the air like it was an apple. They all turned and looked at her.

Stallion glared at Kitsune as she stormed up to her. Her hand wrapping around the wrench Kitsune had caught. “Nice catch.” Stallion’s tone still highly annoyed. She took the wrench as Kitsune released it. She then turned walking back to her car. “Good to see you again, Kit. What brings you out this way?”

Hearing Stallion saying Kitsune’s name Torque rolled out from under a deep purple ‘69 Mustang. Her white jumpsuit was covered in dirt and grease.

“Kitsune!” Torque said happily as she waved her free hand at her.

Kitsune was a bit taken aback by Stallion's seemingly uncaring manner. She slipped her hands into her pockets and shifted her weight onto one foot. “Well, I was hoping I could come here to learn something, but now I'm thinking I should come back later.”

“OH FUN!” Torque announced as she came up quickly off the creeper. “We have a spare jumpsuit hanging over there.” She pointed and looked to the back wall, her eyes adverting back to Kitsune seeing she was watching Stallion. Torque waved a carefree hand at her. “Don’t worry about her. She is just mad because her baby is sick.”

Kitsune smiled tightly at Torque. “It's fine. I completely understand. My boyfriend was in the same position a while ago, though it wasn't with a car. In any case, if I'll just get in the way right now, I have no problem coming back another time.”

“No. Stay.” Stallion said as she dipped down into the motor compartment of the car. “This is a good learning experience for you. You know how to read, right?”

“Well, I've beaten every Zelda game out there, so I guess that speaks for itself,” Kitsune laughed. “But yes, I do. Just tell me what to do and I'll be on it.”

“Good. Get into that jumpsuit over there”--her hand with the wrench came up and pointed over her shoulder at the jumpsuit Torque mention a moment ago--“and then go over to that toolbox”-- she then pointed at a tall huge rolling toolbox that was the same color as her car--“and get a three-eighths wrench and help me undress this motor.”

Kitsune was a bit surprised that she even bothered to let her stay. To be honest, she wasn’t sure how much help she would be, but if she could prove herself useful, maybe it would get better. Regardless, she had to give it her best in this game.


	3. Chapter Three

Kitsune hopped to it and changed into the dark grey jumpsuit so she wouldn't get her nice white one dirty, just like Stallion had told her to. Once she was changed, she went to the toolbox and opened several drawers until she found one filled with wrenches. She was glad that the wrenches were organized and neat. She read the engravings on the handles until she saw one labeled ⅜. She picked it up and ran back to the car.

“Okay, what next?”

Stallion looked over at her. “See that right there?” She pointed down to the front of the motor with the wrench in her hand. When Kitsune nodded Stallion continued. “That’s a water pump. These eleven bolts hold it to the front of the motor.” Stallion tapped the bolts in question. “Bust them loose the rest of the way and be careful not to drop it on Torque’s head. It’s not super heavy, but it is awkward. The bottom is heavier than the top.”

“She might need the air wrench, Stallion. Those bolts are sealed.” Torque jumped into the conversation from under the car.

“No, Whistle popped all sealed bolts loose last night because he and Trigger needed the air today. But you know they’re still pretty tight.” Stallion looked to Kitsune. “So you are going to have to put some muscle into them, and remember it’s ‘righty tighty, lefty loosey’.”

“I'll do my best,” Kitsune nodded with a slight giggle at her phrase.

She reached down and placed the wrench on one of the bolts. She gave it a hard turn and felt it barely turn. She re-positioned her wrench and turned it again. After a little more muscle, it gave way and turned easily. Once the bolt was to the tip of its slot, she spun it off with her fingers. She repeated the process with the rest of them, some giving easier than others. Once she was finished, she held the bolts in her hand.

“There we go,” she smiled.

“Bolts go there,” Stallion pointed at a magnetic tray on top of the motor. “Now to bust the water pump from the front of the motor. Get a scraper out of the top drawer of the toolbox and slide it between the block and the water pump. Put a little pressure on the shaft with the heel of your hand and it should give way. Once you have it off, take it over to the parts bench”--she pointed at the bench next to her toolbox--“use the scraper and clean the gasket off it. Leave it there once it’s clean and come back with a half-inch wrench and you can pull the alternator and the pulleys.” 

Kitsune nodded and went to get the scraper. It was exactly like she thought it was. Almost exactly like a paint knife. She found one easily and brought it over to the car. She slipped it into the seam between the block of the motor and the water pump. Pressing down on the shaft of the water pump with her hand, it slowly peeled away from the block then popped off making her move quickly to catch it before it did what Stallion said it would--hit Torque on the head. Carefully she pulled it out and took it over to the parts bench to clean it.

The gasket appeared to be a blue piece that had been sitting in between the pump and the block. She picked it off of the pump throwing the pieces away. She took the scraper and cleaned the gunk off of it. Then she took a nearby rag and wiped it down. Once it was clean, she left the bench to get the half-inch wrench like Stallion wanted.

Returning to Stallion she asked, “Which parts are the alternator and the pulleys?”

“Alternator…” Stallion pointed a finger this time as she wiped her hands on a shop towel. “Pulleys…” She pointed in many different places then tossed the shop towel back to the front cal, she picked up her wrench again and went back to work on taking the top of the motor apart. “All parts go to that bench you were just at.”

Kitsune nodded and looked at the pieces Stallion pointed out. She took the most time looking at the part she said was the alternator. “So do I have to remove this part”--Kitsune pointed at a bracket on the back of the alternator--“from the alternator or can I skip a step annn--” She fell silent when Stallion looked at her with a look that said ‘Did you say skip?’. Kitsune cast her eyes down slowly. “I’ll remove it from the other piece.”

“Stallion~” Torque sang out from under the car. “Stop being so mean to Kitsune.” She rolled out from under the car on the creeper. “She wants to learn. We all know you’re mad over this but don’t take it out on us or her. We are trying to help you make it better.”

Stallion sighed giving a forceful toss to the wrench she was holding to the top of the motor. “I need a drink.” She grabbed the towel from the cal and wiped her hands. As she stepped away from the side of the car, she looked at Kitsune. “Walk with me.”

Kitsune wanted to shrink down to the size of an ant and crawl out of there. Somehow, she felt even worse than when she talked to Grim about Stallion. This was not a familiar feeling for her at all. She was not used to being self-conscious and she did not like the feeling of being so small. The more time she spent in this game, the more conflicted she felt about what to do in it.

Kitsune set her wrench down cautiously and followed Stallion, though it was not without hesitation. She turned back to look at Torque for courage, but the girl had already disappeared underneath the car again. Kitsune sighed, wringing her hands together. She wished Tsukiro was with her. She always felt strong when he was around. Especially in VRs.

Stallion said nothing for a good part of the walk to the office they had in the garage. As they walked past the first two guys she met when she arrived, the tall cotton blond turned and looked at Stallion. “How’s it going, Sis?”

“As good as it can,” she replied in a defeated tone as they kept walking. Once past them, Stallion looked at Kitsune. “I am sorry. I don’t mean to snap at you. I know you’re here to learn. Today has just been a shit day since I got here.” She gave a defeated sigh as she opened the office door motioning for Kitsune to enter first. As she walked in, she stepped in behind her. “The vending machine is free so whatever you want. You got a choice from beer to water.” 

Kitsune sat herself down in one of the chairs, shaking her head and folding her hands in her lap, looking down at them. Her brain was going around in circles, as was her stomach. “I’m not hungry… or thirsty.” She looked back up at Stallion with a frown. “Why did you give me the address to this place?”

“You’re new. If you don’t latch on to someone that knows a car from a big wheel you will not make it in here. Plus, I like your spirit. I think you could make something of yourself in here.” Stallion said walking over to the vending machine getting a bottle of water, then walked over and looked out the viewing window into the garage.

“In here, or… out there in the game after you teach me everything you know?” Kitsune sighed with a shake of her head. “I met someone in the simulators at The Winner’s Circle. Grim Reaper. He told me more about you. He was surprised you gave me this address. But he also said that you like to make players top racers and then toss them.” Kitsune gave Stallion a stern look even though Stallion was not looking at her. “Am I one of those people? Or am I different somehow? I came into this game to have fun because I can’t play Dragon Lance until shit over there gets solved. So if learning from you will get me tossed out to dry after I’ve sucked up all your knowledge, then I’ll find it someplace else, despite the stupidity of doing that.”

She sighed again, rubbing her face with her gloves, but that proved to be a bad idea when she ended up rubbing grease on her face unknowingly. She looked back up at Stallion. “I mean, I’m not saying I believe him over you or vice versa. I just want a straight story. I want things real--”

Stallion turned to look at Kitsune as she suddenly started laughing hysterically. The sound was like a knife in Kitsune’s stomach. Her eyes stung, and she hopped out of her seat, kicking the chair hard. “What the hell are you laughing at, huh?! _Do I look that stupid to you_?!”

Stallion shook her head and walked over to her trying to place her hands on her shoulders only to be met with a struggling Kitsune. “Stop it and look.” Stallion pointed at the mirror hanging nearby. As Kitsune walked over to the mirror Stallion told Kitsune, her side of the story.

“I have only done that to two people and that is because they fucked me--us--over. They were moonlighting behind the team’s back and giving us a bad name. I give everyone a choice when they reach their…” She paused in thought then continued. “Pinnacle of their racing experience. They can stay with the Thundering Horses or venture out and try to make something on their own.”

Kitsune looked at the reflection of herself in the mirror. The grease looked like egg to her. Her shoulders shook and she lowered her head until her fringe was hiding her face. Tears of embarrassment and shame fell down her cheeks, but she sniffled and wiped them away after taking off her gloves before they could turn into full-on sobbing. She turned around and bowed deeply to Stallion.

“I’m sorry. Please forgive me for jumping to conclusions. I was wrong,” Kitsune said softly.

Stallion waved a carefree hand at her. “It’s fine. I let that rumor spread, and I should have stopped it, but the racers that screwed us are damn good racers and I did not want to give them a bad way to go. It’s a dog eat dog world here.”

Kitsune stood up and wiped her face again, nodding. “I understand. But know this. Grim gave me my first taste of racing today, and I’m in this game to stay. But I’m not chasing victory. I’m a gamer at heart, not a racer. But while winning is sometimes part of the game, each gamer has their own reason for playing the game. Mine and Tsuki’s is for fun. We went through too much shit in VR games to not enjoy them. Our enjoyment of the game always comes first. Above winning. Above status. Above bragging rights. Above everything. If we don’t have fun playing the game, we don’t play it.”

She smiled at Stallion confidently. “I have no reason to screw you over because I’m not chasing the same thing as most players in this game. I could care less about being the best so long as I’m having fun.”

Stallion chuckled. “You say that now. I will give you 6 months and the taste of victory at a buck fifty and 2.3 second lead.”

Kitsune laughed, shaking her head. “I’m not exactly sure what you said, but I’m positive winning is just as fun. I just don’t plan to let it go to my head.”

Stallion hummed the most sarcastic hum as she rolled her eyes stepping past Kitsune. “Grab yourself a drink and let’s get back to work. I got a week before the Stang has to be back on the streets or I lose my title. And you have a lot to learn, Miss Kit.”

“Yes ma’am!” Kitsune smiled, giving a salute and putting her gloves back on.

They went back into the garage area and back over to the Mustang. This time they both were in better spirits. Standing in front of the car, Stallion explained to Kitsune what she needed to do, unlike the last time where she just ordered her and pointed. Once Kitsune knew what to do and why she went to work without much questioning unless it tossed her a fit. Stallion went back to work on the top end of the motor.

A few hours later and most of the motor stripped along with the transmission, exhaust, gas, and NOS lines unbolted, they started on the motor mounts. Torque was still under the car and Stallion and Kitsune were on the top side. As Stallion was working on a bolt her wrench slipped and her hand slammed into a hoist bracket, slicing the back of her hand wide open. She came up out of the motor compartment like a streak, applying pressure to the back of her hand.

“SON OF A BITC…” Stallion growled as she spun in place, kicking a nearby bucket that went airborne, slamming into the back wall.

Torque came out from under the car as quickly as she could as Whistle and Trigger came running as well. Kitsune ran off to get a clean towel, returning and trying to get Stallion to let her wrap it in a clean shop towel as blood was streaming from both hands. Stallion was still cussing and holding her injured hand in a vice grip. 

“Stallion, please. Let me clean it or it’s going to get infected. Then it’ll really hurt,” Kitsune asked her calmly, trying to keep a hold on her wrist. She slipped the towel through Stallion’s uninjured hand to cover the wound in order to stop the bleeding.

Torque stepped up to Stallion and looked at her hand then looked up at her. Stallion started chuckling as did Kitsune, Whistle, and Trigger. “What’s so funny?” She looked at the ones laughing. “Stallion got hurt! Don’t laugh, this is serious.”

“Stallion is laughing and it’s not the first time she has nearly cut something off while working on a car.” Trigger claimed.

“Still why are you laughing?” Torque asked them again.

Whistle took her by the shoulders and walked her over to the car making her lean over and look in the side mirror. When Torque looked in the mirror she started to giggle softly. Stallion’s blood had dripped down on her and landed between her eyes and streaked across her forehead.

“I have racing stripes,” Torque giggled.

“Not the kind you should be proud of,” Kitsune giggled as well. “Just be glad it didn’t get into your eyes. Trust me, it sucks.”

Torque turned and blinked at Kitsune as she wiped the blood off. “What kind of VRs do you play anyway?”

“Fantasy games. Sword fighting and stuff like that,” she answered nonchalantly.

“Like?” One of the guys asked.

“Uh, well besides Dragon Lance and ALfheim Online… Sword Art Online?”

The group suddenly went silent as they looked on at Kitsune. After a few seconds, Whistle broke the silence. “You were one of the lucky ones. I feel for you.” He patted her shoulder, turned and he and Trigger went back to working on the Impala.

“Wow! Were you really part of that mess?” Torque asked her.

Kitsune nodded with a frown. “Unfortunately, yes. Me, Tsukiro, and his brother. We were not on the frontlines though. We kept ourselves safe until the mess was over. That’s why we’re so dedicated to actually enjoying VR games. Tsukiro always says ‘a game is not worth your life’.”

“No, it’s not. You were smart for playing it safe,” Stallion stated. She looked down at her hand then back up at the two girls. “I have to go get this cleaned up and bandaged. I will be right back.” She started walking off as she called back to Torque and Kitsune. “Clean up everything. Let’s call this a day. I have had enough of this shop. Let’s hit the streets.”

Kitsune and Torque nodded and set to cleaning up and putting things away. As they did so, Kitsune was trying to apply what she learned on a standard track to the streets. The streets were nothing like a racing track. The streets were unpredictable unless you knew the area so well you memorized the layout of the streets. And how did you turn on a dime when you were pushing over 80mph? Drift?

As Torque wiped down the tools and put them away, she looked over at Kitsune seeing her deep in thought. “Lockout for your thoughts?”

Kitsune blinked over at Torque. “Huh? Lockout?”

Torque giggled and turned to the toolbox digging through the top and picked up a bulky but shiny-looking closed-end nut. She tossed it to Kitsune watching her catch it then look at it curiously.

It was about an inch long. There was a square end on one side with the inside part that screwed on, and the other side was caved in and had a squiggly shape inside it. She turned it around in her hand before putting the caved in part on her finger like a thimble.

“What does it do?”

Torque smiled warmly. “It’s a locking lug nut.” When Kitsune shook her head, Torque looked at the tires on Stallions car.

Kitsune looked at the tires as well, kneeling down and holding the nut up to the tires. One of the nuts on the tire matched the one in her hand. “Okay, what’s the purpose of having one nut that’s different from the others.” She turned and smirked at Torque. “And don’t tell me it’s to keep them from knocking into each other when you walk.”

Torque giggled. “Cute, I will have to remember that for next time.”

“Thanks,” Kitsune laughed madly. “My boyfriend will be proud of me. He’s the one who taught it to me. Though my parents would have an aneurysm if they heard me say it.”

“Same,” Torque concurred. “Anyway, you only need one. It’s a safety for your tires. The one your holding can only be removed if you have the key that fits the cute little cut out on the top of it. That way no one can steal your tires. Think of it as a lock for your home.”

Kitsune nodded. “So then would I be right when I say it's like a padlock and no two keys and nuts are the same?” She sighed when she heard the words leave her mouth. “My boyfriend really is a bad influence.”

“Exactly, and it’s only dirty if you let your mind go there.” She giggled. 

“Oh just wait till you meet him,” Kitsune smirked, standing up. “He can write a book on dirty jokes, innuendos, and euphemisms. Though he usually gets smacked for it. He’s got a bad habit of telling them at the best possible times.”

Torque giggled again as she turned back to the toolbox. “Then he will fit right in around here. The guys always have their mind in the gutter and can turn almost anything into something perverted.” She looked back over her shoulder at Kitsune. “You should go get your boyfriend and bring him racing with us tonight.”

“Actually,” Kitsune said as she opened her panel and found what she was hoping was there. The Streamline app. She smiled and opened it. “I can tell him to hop on right now if he’s not busy.” She looked at the clock and grimaced. “Ouch! Actually, he’s probably asleep. Shit. Here I told him not to stay up so late in VRs and now I’m doing the same thing.”

She shook her head with a smile. “Ah well. I’m sure he’ll be down for a few more hours of game time.” She hit his cell number and hit call. It rang for about a minute straight before he picked up. She put it on speaker.

His voice was groggy as he spoke. _“You know this has got to be the freakiest shit ever. And I’m not talking about in bed either.”_

Kitsune flushed as she looked up at Torque who was smirking at her. Kitsune mouthed ‘I told you’. She replied back to him. “What do you mean?”

 _“Kaori… you’re calling me on my cellphone IRL… from inside a VR… when you’re laying right here next to me. I’m_ **_literally_ ** _looking at you while talking. This is like a fucking nightmare… Am I still sleeping? Tell me I’m still sleeping. God, this is_ **_so_ ** _fucked up.”_

Kitsune laughed, as did Torque.

_“Do you have me on speaker?”_

“Yes. But anyway, I’m calling you to see if you want to log in to SpeedRunner and come watch the others race.”

Tsukiro thought about it for a minute then replied. _“Give me half an hour and I’ll call you from inside the game.”_

“Okay, and make sure to pick LA, California as your spawn in point. It’s hidden so look for it where you pick your car.” Kitsune giggled. They hung up and she looked up to Torque. “Told you,” she said aloud this time.

She giggled nodding her head. “And you have a very pretty name. Unlike me. My name is so blah…” Torque said as she stuck out her tongue with her sound effect.

Kitsune laughed and shook her head. “I’m sure your name is pretty too. What is it, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Jen...Yuck. Why couldn’t my parents be cool like yours and Stallion’s parents? I get Jen and you guys get Kaori and Rain. Even Frogger has a prettier name than me.”

“I like Jen. It’s a cute name. And easy to spell. You want to try writing my name in Kanji? Not fun,” Kitsune laughed. “But if you want a cool-sounding name then I can call you Shironami since Jen is close to Jenny which means white wave.”

“Oooo~ that sounds cool and pretty,” Torque stated with wide eyes.

Kitsune laughed. “Shironami it is then.” Suddenly she remembered something and text Tsukiro.

_There’s a candy store in The Winner’s Circle. Buy a bunch of Kit Kats._

**_Huhhh?_ **

_You’ll find out._

**_Ooookay._ **

Once Kitsune was finished with Tsukiro, they got back to work cleaning up as they talked. It was not much longer, and they were nearly done, the others walking out, changed out of their mechanic’s jumpsuits and into their racing attire. All of them had on a jacket or hoodie in the color of their choice with Thundering Horses across the back. They were all in jeans also in the color of their choice.

Kitsune smiled to them as they gathered around. “If you don’t mind waiting a little longer, my boyfriend will be here once he gets signed in. I told him to start the game and he’ll call me once he’s--”

Suddenly her Streamline rang. It was him, though the username read as Shadow Demon. “And there he is.” She answered and put it on speaker. “Hey, I got you on speaker. How’d you do?”

_“That character creator is crazy, and the announcer chick is annoying. Also, I have a black ‘15 Dodge Challenger, and another thing… the steering wheel is on the wrong side.”_

“Are you in LA?”

_“Yes, and I got your candy.”_

“Then you’re good. Congrats. You get a gold medal,” Kitsune smirked.

“If he friends you, he will be able to find us on the map. We will wait,” Whistle informed her. “We still have to wait for you and Torque to get cleaned up.” Whistle looked at both the girls which were still in their greasy jumpers.

 _“Well, hop to it. I’d rather not die straight off the bat because I crashed like an idiot cause America drives on the wrong side of the road,”_ Shadow grumbled from the phone.

Kitsune sighed heavily.

_“What!? Don’t sigh at me! You know I’m right!”_

She hung up on him and opened her friends panel instead. As she sent him a request, he sent her a text that read ‘ **_YOU HUNG UP ON ME!_ **’ When she saw that he accepted, she looked around at the others.

“Sorry. He’s also a little… over the top… Well, you’ll see.”

“Then he and High Roller will get along great,” Trigger announced with a chuckle.

“Go get cleaned up you two we will get the rest of this,” Stallion told them. “Torque will show you the locker room.” Stallion walked over to the car and started picking things up. “Make sure she gets a locker, Torque.”

“Will do,” Torque called back as she tugged Kitsune to follow her.

A couple of minutes before the girls returned, there was a knock on one of the 55-gallon drums sitting just inside the bay door. They all turned to see a guy of average height with medium length black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Part of his hair in the front fell out of the ponytail and over his face. He was slightly built but not overly. He wore a black tank top that hugged his torso; dark grey jeans with a black leather belt; black lace-up boots, and a black jacket with white belts around the arms and a white hood. He also had black gloves on that cut off just under his wrists, and around his neck were a pair of dog tags. His eyes were like the Mexico blue of a ‘15 Mustang GT, only much brighter.

“Given the purple car parked out front, I’m guessing this is the right place,” Shadow said as he walked up to them. “You guys must be the Thundering Horses she told me about.”

Stallion stood from the other side of her car from picking a few things up as she looked to the new voice. “You must be Kit’s other ride.” She turned walking over to her toolbox to deposit the tools she picked up after wiping them off.

Shadow laughed. “‘Other’ ride? Hopefully, I’m her only ride. Though as beautiful as she is, I wouldn’t blame her if I was the sidecar.”

“Well sorry to be rude, but if you can’t do 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds, giving me a head rush that affects me down to my toes, you’re as good as traded in on a newer model,” Stallion told him as she closed her toolbox and locking it. She turned and looked at him with a wide smirk, a hand on her hip. “Hi, I am Stallion.”

Shadow smirked back. “Hey, I never said I deserved her. Besides, my hips can’t move that fast.” The guys in the room snorted and laughed. “I’m Shadow Demon, but you can just call me Shadow. And judging from your name…” He pointed from Stallion to the Mustang they were picking apart. “I’m guessing this one is yours.”

“Yes, she is my baby.” Stallion walked over to her car, letting her hand glide across the top. “She is not doing so good right now though thanks to a Gray Ghost.”

“Ghost in the machine?” Shadow walked over and looked down into the guts of the car. There were obviously parts missing already, but he had looked under the hood of a car enough times to know when something looked wrong, even if he couldn’t pick out what was wrong or why.

“No, this Ghost has two legs and is very visible, but if I see him without the rest of my money before Wednesday, he is going to be dickless.”

“I HEARD THAT!!” A voice from the far back of the shop rang out.

Stallion leaned back slightly yelling back toward where the voice came from. “Good! Because if you make me lose my title you lose what’s precious to you.” 

Shadow grinned, glancing towards the sound of the voice. Just then he saw Kitsune walk out in the starting outfit she had shown him earlier in the day with her jumpsuit half off and tied around her waist. She was walking with another girl, but all he saw was her. He smirked at her and wrapped his arm around her waist as she came up close to him.

“Hey. You look damn good in that outfit. Like a brown sugar Winry Rockbell.”

Kitsune’s jaw dropped and she punched him in the chest. “Tsukiro!”

“What?! Tell me I’m wrong,” he laughed.

“Okay fine, you’re right.” She poked him in the chest. “But you be good! I don’t need them thinking you’re anymore over the top than you already are.”

“Nah. Normal people are boring,” he smiled. He turned to the others. “So she told me you guys are going out racing?”

“Yeah, there is a place just down the strip that drags the quarter until the cops run us out.” Whistle looked to Stallion.

“You taking your new car or you going”--he looked to Kitsune--“to be teaching her the ropes tonight?”

“I thought I might ride with Kit and teach her a few things. The streets are nothing like the simulator. She has to get used to it one day, might as well be tonight.” Stallion smiled over at Kitsune.

Shadow smirked over at Kitsune. “Eeyy, I get to see you drive. Maybe I’ll take a few screenshots and some videos.” His smirk grew wider. “Or I could go back to The Winner’s Circle and see if there’s a store that sells cheerleader outfits. No! I could get some daisy dukes and a crop top and some hooker boots and stand between the cars!”

“OH MY GOD STOP!” Kitsune covered her face in embarrassment.

“Frogger might kick your ass if you go taking her job,” Torque finally spoke up. “Even if you might be sexier than her in the outfit. We won’t trade her in.”

Shadow clapped his hands and pointed his fingers at all of the girls except Stallion. “Yes! Frogger! Who’s Frogger? I want to know who the person behind such a genius name is.”

Stallion chuckled shaking her head. “You will meet her here soon. She is not here right now.”

“Ahh. Out in her element then? Good, good. Maybe she can teach me how to get across the freaking logs. They make you think the cars are the hardest part but then they get you with the damn logs and lily pads.”

“Oh my God,” Kitsune sighed, already exhausted. She looked up at him. “Did you drink coffee before you logged in?”

“Just a little,” Shadow pinched his thumb and index finger together.

“Anyway,” Kitsune shook her head. “Take out the candy I asked you to buy.”

Shadow took out a paper bag with the candy store’s logo on it and handed it to Kitsune. Inside were little Kit Kat miniatures in their iconic red wrappers. She held the bag by the rope handles and held them out to all of the Thundering Horses.

“In Japan, Kit Kats are given out to school kids before tests because they’re considered lucky. That’s because the Japanese pronunciation of the name sounds like a phrase that means ‘you will surely win’. So as a good luck charm, I want all of you to have a Kit Kat.” Kitsune held out the bag and bowed to them. “ _Kitto kattsu_!”

Whistle took the first one with a wide bright smile, he bowed to her and repeated the phrase the best he could. “Kittyo Katniss or however you said that.”.

Shadow snorted loudly, turning around and bending over on his knees, trying to keep the laughter in. “K-K-Katniss…”

Kitsune bit her lips to keep from laughing as well. “Close enough. Katniss is a good luck charm in her own right.”

Trigger took the next one and bowed as well. “I am not even going to try, so… Good luck to us.” He lifted the Kit Kat like he was making a toast.

Before Kitsune could turn to give Torque one, Ghost appeared behind her tapping her lightly on the shoulder. He was hunched over trying to hide the best he could. “Don’t move. It’s me, Ghost. I don’t want Stallion to see me, but I heard Kit Kat and I want one. Pleeaaaasseeeee…”

Kitsune smiled nonchalantly and plucked one from the bag and put it in her back pocket, then held the bag out to Torque.

Ghost plucked it out of her back pocket, turned quickly only to be met with a dark-haired guy giving him a dirty look. Ghost pouted. “I did not touch her butt, but if you don’t move you will be an accessory to the decapitation of my manhood.”

Shadow smirked at him evilly and reached down, grabbing the crown of his head and squeezing hard. He leaned down and got in his face. “And if you ever try something like that again, touch or no, I’ll be the one removing it. You got me?”

Ghost stood to his full height looking the guy in the eyes. He turned and pointed at Kitsune. “But she is the one that put it there for me to get.”

Shadow’s eye twitched. He grabbed the Kit Kat out of his hand, unwrapped it, and shoved it in the guy’s mouth, forcing his jaw closed. “And now it’s in your mouth for you to enjoy. Eat it and get the hell out of my face.”

Ghost grinned widely and started chewing. “Fhanks,” Ghost told him and darted off to the back once more.

Stallion rolled her eyes as she watched him dart off. “Pain in my ass.” She looked to Kitsune and smiled as she reached into the bag. “You know because of doing this they are going to start calling you KitKat, right?”

Kitsune giggled and nodded. “Fine by me. It’s better than ‘Kitty.’ One guy in another VR we played had the balls to call me that right in front of this guy,” she nodded to Shadow.

“Want to guess how many of his ribs I broke?” Shadow grinned. “Ten thousand Slips to the person who guesses right.”

Stallion took her candy and bowed to Kitsune as the others started guessing. “Kitto kattsu.” She said then looked to Shadow. “Eight…” Stallion guessed after everyone else guessed.

Shadow blinked at her. “How much did you say your motor was worth?”

“Just the block or fully dressed?” Stallion questioned as she took a bite of her Kit-Kat.

“Whatever you need to replace it. Or fix the damage Ghost did.”

“Ten thousand Slips,” Stallion replied.

Shadow turned towards the back of the garage. “Hey Grab Ass! Get over here!”

Stallion adjusted herself where she stood as she looked at Shadow. “I really don’t want to see him. What are you doing?”

“Just trust me and get him over here.”

Her eyes narrowed at Shadow. “Last time someone told me that my motor blew up.”

Shadow gave her a sarcastic but amused smile. “Okay then. Let me show you a magic trick.” Suddenly he saw Ghost running up to them, then shifted around them to avoid Stallion. He stopped behind Whistle. Shadow grabbed him by the scruff and dragged him over to him. He turned him around and poked his finger into his chest. “Consider yourself in my debt.”

Ghost sighed with a defeated posture as his shoulders slumped. “Dude! I am in everybody’s debt. Cut me some slack here, Hell’s bells.”

Shadow smirked at him. “Okay. Let me ask you this. Would you rather be in debt to me, a lowly newbie?” He turned Ghost around and made him face Stallion. Shadow pointed at her. “Or her, the person whose car you apparently single-handedly trashed.”

“Most definitely you, Noob Boy,” Ghost chuckled.

“Good answer.” Shadow opened his panel and searched Stallion’s name. He hit the transfer button next to her username and tapped in ten thousand Slips. A second later, Stallion’s panel blinked in front of her, letting her know the transfer went through. “Consider your debt paid with interest. She won the bet.”

Ghost spun quickly facing the guy. “But why?” He then got a questioning look on his face as an eyebrow raised, Ghost crossed his arms over his chest and kept his pointed look at him. “What do you want from me?”

Shadow smiled deviously. “I don’t know yet. I’ll think of something. You know, I have a pet dragon that’s a goofball like you. Maybe I’ll make you convert to Dragon Lance and become his personal playtime buddy. Would you like to see a picture of him? He’s twice the size of this garage and black like a raven’s wings with red eyes. I think he’d like you.”

“Awwww hell no! The only Dragons I play with, race cars. I am not one for the munch munch crunch crunch. Especially if it’s my bones doing the crunching,” Ghost expressed.

Shadow rolled his eyes and slapped the guy on the back. “Relax. I’m kidding. I’m not gonna give you the tenth degree. I’ll think of something worth the ten thousand.”

“I will do anything but play with your dragon.” The room busted out in laughter.

“Wow Ghost, I have known you how long and you’re just now coming out of the closet.” Whistle poked fun at him.

“Fuck you! You know what I meant.”

Shadow got a look of pure pity on his face. He grabbed Ghost by the shoulder. “Dude, forget the debt. Just do yourself a favor and stop digging yourself a deeper hole.”

Ghost shook his head. “No, I pay back my debts. You want to learn how to race. Build a car. Whatever, I am your man. I will even teach your lady right alongside of you. Just no playing with the dragon.”

Shadow stared at him for a good two minutes before he took him by the shoulders and turned him around in circles, looking him up and down.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Looking for the off switch.”

“There is no such thing as an Emil switch. Me and my brother have even tried to install one to no avail,” Stallion told Shadow.

Kitsune shook her head, astounded by the spectacle before her. They were right. He did fit right in. Almost as if he had always been there. She just hoped she was the same way.

Just then the building started to rumble as three more vehicles pulled up in front of the shop. A ‘93 cherry red Mustang, an ‘85 Fire Engine Red iRoc Camaro with a black ragtop, and a ’69 dirt brown, Charger. A guy climbed out of each vehicle and walked inside the shop. They too were wearing Thundering Horses’ jackets.

“What’s up!?” A guy with a high and tight haircut spoke up first as he walked up to Whistle and they shook hands. “How’s it going WS?” He looked past Stallion to her car. “Not out yet, huh?”

“Not yet, High Roller.” She held up her injured hand. “It will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“That sucks ass. Sorry to hear that. I was hoping to start the rebuild on it.” A guy with long dark hair spoke up.

“You have to get your haircut before you can work on my car,” Stallion said with a chuckle.

Whistle laughed as Torque gasp. “Stallion, don’t make Charger get his hair cut. It’s beautiful.”

Stallion shook her head. “No one can have hair longer than mine.”

“Pftt, race ya for it. Loser has to cut their hair,” Charger challenged her.

“Yeah, right, and what is she supposed to race you on? Her Big Wheel.” The last guy spoke. He had short wavy hair that was almost black.

Ghost chuckled. “We got one, Little Red Roc. Don’t tempt her.”

Shadow leaned over and whispered not so quietly to Kitsune, “I’m confused.”

Kitsune giggled. “Me too. Who is WS?”

The ones in the room hearing her all pointed to Stallion as she sighed heavily. “I am not WS. I am Stallion. I do have an identity outside of my brother’s shadow.”

“So I’m guessing the W means Whistle and the S means sister,” Kitsune smiled.

Both Whistle and Stallion nodded slowly. “And since most of us are here now but Frogger. Let me introduce everyone.”

Stallion stepped out to the center of the group. “Thundering Horses. I would like you to meet a new friend of mine, Torque and Frogger’s. Kitsune. The guy next to her is her second ride, Shadow. Kitsune, Shadow. I would like you to meet the Thundering Horses minus one.” As she named them off they waved saying hello all but Whistle he nodded and whistled. “Whistle, High Roller, Torque, Gray Ghost, Trigger, Charger, Little Red Roc or Red Roc.” She spread out her arms and faced Kitsune and Shadow. “I am Stallion and you will meet Frogger once we get out on the street to do some racing.”

“It’s a good thing you all have iconic names. Easy to remember,” Shadow smiled. “Though I’m sure I’ll end up learning the story behind them too.”

“Pleased to meet all of you,” Kitsune bowed. “Thank you for having us.”

“The more the merrier, little lady.” High Roller told her with a bright smile.

“Glad to have you aboard. Can’t wait to see what you bring to the track.” Little Red Roc replied.

“Which one of you owns that hot, little, purple ride out there?” Charger asked.

“That would be mine,” Kitsune smiled. “Though I’m not sure I can do much with it by way of racing right now.”

Before Charger could answer, Whistle sounded off with a loud whistle and a clap of his hands. “If we are going. Let’s roll, or we are going to miss the first run.”

With that, everyone took off to their rides as Whistle locked up shop and set the alarm.


	4. Chapter 4

The group rolled up on the other racers as they sat parked in a parking garage. They were out of their cars walking around looking at the newer cars and talking to one another. This was where they sat until a challenge was presented between two of the racers. Bringing up the rear, Kitsune, along with Stallion and Shadow rolled up to the entrance behind the gray Nova that Ghost was driving. Ghost had stopped as he talked to the guy standing at the entrance then pulled away.

As he did the guy lifted his hand stopping Kitsune. She looked over at Stallion with a worried look, Stallion only nodding. Suddenly her window was rapped on by the guy as Kitsune startled and looked toward her driver’s window.

Kitsune pushed the button to roll down her window with a shaky hand. “Y-yes? Is there something wrong?” She asked the guy. Hopefully, there wasn’t some sort of “driver and car dress code” or something. She had no idea how these things worked. She only had 10 movies worth of street racing knowledge that may or may not have been realistic. 

He leaned over and looked in the car shaking his head. “No, baby girl, just keeping”--the guy saw Stallion and reached across Kitsune with a closed fist. “Stallion my girl! How’s it rolling?!” 

“It ain’t rolling anywhere yet, Sergio”--she reached up and fist-bumped him--“she is still parked in the garage. Tonight I am here with the team and two new friends.” Stallion informed him as she told Sergio their names, gesturing to each one with a slight movement of her head.

He greeted them with a nod of head as he continued to speak to Stallion. “That’s a shame, but I can’t wait to see what she runs when she makes a comeback.” His hand drew back as he patted the door. “You’re clear. Let them through,” he called out ahead of the line. 

“Um…” Kitsune looked to Stallion. “What was that about?”

“At least it was ‘baby girl’ and not something derogatory,” Shadow said as he looked behind them at the guy named Sergio. “Then again I’m probably biased cause of Derrek Morgan.” 

“Not what I meant,” Kitsune rolled her eyes with a grin. “But yes, that was appreciated.” 

“They keep an eye out for undercovers and any of the troublemakers. Since your car was one they had never seen before it was stopped to check things out.” As Kitsune rolled slowly into the garage Stallion pointed to the right. “This way.”

“Undercovers?! The Cop NPCs do undercover work in this game?! Seriously?! That’s some serious programming!” Kitsune gawked.

Stallion nodded. “They tried to make this as realistic as they could,” she shrugged, “They did not do half bad. From my aspect of living in the racing world IRL.” 

“So you street race IRL?” Shadow asked Stallion. “And you’ve never been caught?”

“Another right, you will see the team.” She told Kitsune as she chuckled looking back at Shadow. “Not yet”--she knocked on her head--“knock on wood.” 

“Jeez,” Shadow shook his head. “So do you drive a Mustang IRL? Or something different?”

“I have two cars IRL, a ‘69 Mustang like the one in the garage and a ‘72 Mercury Cougar. They don’t offer the Cougar in SpeedRunner so I only have the one I own IRL.” Stallion told him as she looked ahead of them when Kitsune slowed to a stop to let a group of people cross in front of them. 

Kitsune pulled up to what looked like an illegal block party minus the neighborhood block. There were dozens and dozens of people and about half as many cars in all make, models, colors and all with the hoods up. Some were being tinkered with and some were just on display. Some were solid colors and others made for louder statements than some of the shoes and clothes in Kitsune’s closet. The building vibrated with loud music in various genres from Latin to rap, techno to dubstep, and even Kpop occasionally which surprised them. Some people were dancing, others were talking cars. 

But there was one thing that they noticed wasn’t there: drugs and alcohol. 

Everyone was sober and of sound mind, though with street racing Kitsune and Shadow guessed that sanity was debatable. There was food and nonalcoholic drinks like sodas, energy drinks, and other bottled beverages. Away from the cars of course. The air was vibrating with energy and excitement. 

“Wow…” Kitsune breathed. “It really is like the movies…” 

Stallion looked over at her and chuckled lightly. “There is as much energy in here as there will be on the streets. It’s a natural high and racing is the drug, and like any drug, once you’re hooked it’s hard to get out.”

“Yeah, but does this one make you drive better or worse?” Shadow inquired. “Like most drugs, once you’re hooked, you can’t see past a hand in front of your face. Or worse. Past your next high. So is this high a benefit or a hindrance?” 

Stallion chuckled, shaking her head. “It teaches you how to drive better, but it can be killer on your bankroll.” She looked back at Shadow. “That’s why you don’t turn a crank for under half of what it would take to replace your engine.” 

“Meaning?” Kitsune questioned. 

“Whatever it takes to replace your motor, you ask for half when a bet is laid down in a race.” Stallion told her. “So in the case of your car the bet would be 2k. If it were me someone was asking to race, the bet would be 5k. That’s why you never race someone with a stronger car than yours. Because the payout on your side would be higher and it will be your car that will pay the price in repairs and they will walk away the winner.”

“So in other words,” Shadow said, “don’t walk up to a 100k poker table with only 10k in your pocket. Cause if you lose, you lose a lot more than just what’s in your pocket.”

Kitsune nodded. “I see. So if that’s the case, why wouldn’t you just race for the total worth of your motor? That way if you win and blow it up, you have the money to replace it plus another ten on top of that.” 

“If you’re going to do that you might as well race for Pinks. Not only that. Asking for half is reasonable. After all, you are just as liable if the motor blows as the other person. You agreed to the race. They challenged, you accepted. Think of it as going out dutch.” Stallion chuckled lightly as she looked at Kitsune.

Kitsune nodded. “I see. Somebody with 100k bets you 50k and you have 40k, you have to put in everything, even if you’re short.” 

Kitsune parked her car in an empty spot, waiting as people loitering in the spot scurried out to let her in. “Too bad parking at the grocery store isn’t this easy,” she pouted as she killed the engine. 

Stallion nodded as she opened the door and climbed out, lifting the seat for Shadow to climb out next. She stepped back then turned and looked at Shadow as he stood next to the car. “Don’t lean on, sit on or touch a single car unless it’s your own or you will be dining on your teeth.” She turned and stepped away from him. “And watch your mouth. You’re new here. Most won’t put up with it.”

Shadow went to say something but caught a pointed look from Kitsune. He raised his hands and made a gesture with his hand, zipping his lips closed. “Speak no evil.” 

Kitsune rolled her eyes at him and moved over to wrap her arm around his waist. He put his arm around her shoulders and they walked off. “I’ve never seen so many cars,” she commented, looking around as they moved forward. 

“It’s certainly a lot of money in one place,” Shadow nodded. “I don’t even think I can count high enough to add up all the worth of these cars.” 

“KIT!!” A familiar voice rang out.

It was Grim Reaper, he walked toward her smiling wide. He was wearing a black jacket, his hands in his pockets as he nodded to the ones that greeted him from Thundering Horses. Linked to his arm was a short girl with long dark hair as she wore a similar jacket with a white and blue halter and white jean shorts.

Kitsune beamed ear to ear and left Shadow’s side to run up to him. “Grim! I didn’t know you’d be here! Jeez, that wasn’t long at all,” she giggled and held her fist out to him. “It hasn’t even been a full day yet.” 

Grim chuckled lightly and gave her fist a bump with his own. “This is my girl, Lady Scythe.”

She smiled warmly offering her hand to the girl. “Hello, Kitsune, you can call me LS... or Scythe is fine.” She shrugged. “Grim has told me all about you. It’s cool to see you out racing already.”

Kitsune shook her hand but grimaced. “Ah, no. Definitely not. I need more practice and more than just a factory car before I race. I’d rather not go bankrupt before I hit level five.” 

She smiled at the two of them. “Are you two racing tonight?” 

Scythe giggled, shaking her head. “Oh no! I don’t race. I am only here for moral support. Grim is the racer.”

“Yeah, I am racing. Got a couple of scores to settle from last time. The cops busted up the racing before we could finish.” He looked past Kitsune seeing a tall dark-haired guy looking their way. “That your guy?” When she looked back, nodding, Grim chuckled and motioned for him to join them. “Well get him over here, damn girl, rude much?”

Kitsune chuckled and looked over to Shadow, waving him over. “Sorry.” Once Shadow was at her side, she wrapped her arm around him and patted his chest with the other. “Shadow, this is Grim Reaper. He taught me to race this morning. Well, as much as he could in two hours that is. Grim, this is Shadow Demon.” 

“Think you could give me a lesson?” Shadow grinned, holding out his hand. “Which one of these pieces of art is yours?” 

Grim turned and pointed at a black and orange 2015 McLaren 650 Spider S. “That’s my baby over there.”

Scythe giggled as she looked back at Shadow and Kitsune. “That’s one of his babies.”

“Yeah, I got damn lucky and won her in the Challenge of Challengers Race last year,” Grim informed them.

“You sly dog,” Kitsune grinned at him, placing her hands on her hips. “So the Mazda RX7 was your side piece?”

Grim nodded. “She was my starter car.”

Shadow cocked his head slightly. “I don’t remember seeing an RX7 on the starter menu.”

“Not anymore since they changed it up. They had added so many new cars their second year they made it a level car.” Grim explained. 

“I see,” Shadow nodded. “Do most people put their starters on the back burner after they get something else, or are there players that are loyal to them, regardless of whether they can get something better?” 

“Some discard them, sell them to upgrade or they junk them. The diehards cling to them since their starter got them where they are today. Most of the players I know”--he gestured to the ones around him with his head--“have upgraded their starters as much as the game allows and race them from time to time, or just use them to get around in the game. Flashing the cops with a known hot rod is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.”

Shadow looked around at the cars surrounding them. “Does the AI in the cops’ programming recognize target colors? Like red or bright colors? Will they pull you over if you’re driving an expensive car in red rather than black or white?”

“Nope, the NPC cops are as smart or as stupid as any cop IRL. A car is targeted because it was spotted racing or doing something illegal,” Grim replied as he watched Stallion walk up behind Kitsune and Shadow. 

“Stallion,”

“Grim,” her attention turned to Kitsune. “I got you a race.” 

Kitsune’s eyes bugged out of her head. “You what?!” She looked back at her Toyota and pointed at it with a straight arm. “You want me to race in that?! After two hours of practice in a simulator?!”

“You want to learn how to race or sit on the sidelines like a noob or a wannabe?” She looked at Scythe. “No offense Scythe.”

“None taken,” she giggled. 

“Well… no… but I’m not looking forward to losing so bad I get laughed at either,” Kitsune sighed. 

“Hey, if you want to win some, you gotta lose some. Just like any other game,” Shadow placed an arm around her. 

“PFT! Really? Do you really think I am not going to set you up in a sure thing?” Stallion groaned as she rolled her eyes. “You’re riding with the Thundering Horses. I am not going to set you up against a car and a driver I don’t think you’re going to win against. Have a little faith.”

Kitsune laughed. “So you got someone even more of a noob than me? That’s cruel.” 

Stallion smirked. “No, you’re more noob, but his car is lame, and you, unlike him, have me.” She turned and motioned with her head for Kitsune to follow. “Come on, they almost have everything set up on the streets for us to get down to racing. Grim!” She called back to him.

Grim looked her way as she continued.

“You’re holding the Slips. So don’t run off.”

Shadow grinned as he stayed back with Grim. “Well, at least I’ll get to see her race tonight. Hell, if she wins, I might give it a try myself.” 

“She’ll win...You want to watch her start or end?” Grim asked him as he started moving toward his ride, motioning for Shadow to follow.

“You kidding?” Shadow grinned. “The ending is always the best part.” He followed Grim as they headed to Grim’s car. 

Over at Kitsune’s car, Stallion stood on the passenger's side looking over the top of the car at her. She could see she was nervous as she quickly looked around the parking garage. “Calm yourself. Think of it as a Sunday drive and you’re in a hurry to get there.” 

“Then it better be some damn good brunch. Like, blueberry pancakes with whipped cream and all the other fatty, greasy American food Japan doesn’t have the luxury of enjoying every day,” Kitsune sighed. She gave Stallion a stern look. “But I’m not going down without a fight. I’m not going to embarrass myself.” 

“The only way you’re going to embarrass yourself is by not leaving the starting line.” 

Just then a small tap came to the hood of Kitsune’s hood. “Load up. It’s time.” Sergio told them.

Stallion nodded as she ducked down and climbed into the car, Kitsune right beside her. “If you listen to me you will win this. Got it?”

“Hey, you’re the expert. I’m the one on the bottom rung. Gotta get stepped on to get to the top, right?” Kitsune took a deep breath and started her car. 

“You’re not losing with me in this car. You hear me. I am allergic to losing. So if you don’t want me going into anaphylactic shock tonight you had better win.” Stallion told her as they pulled out and started toward the exit of the parking garage. 

“In that case, you can just stay in the car forever,” Kitsune laughed as they pulled out of the garage. “So is this a straight line kind of race, or turn like your life depends on it race?” 

Stallion shook her head and sighed. “We got a lot of work ahead of us, don’t we?” She looked over at Kitsune. “It’s called drag racing. The ‘turn like your life depends on it race,’ as you so like to call it, is just plainly called a track. Drag racing takes place on a strip. You are going to be running on a strip. So you’re drag racing, and you will be running the quarter-mile. Turn right here.” Stallion told her as they approached the street at the exit. 

She turned right and followed the cars in front of her. “So is drag racing one on one, or can there be more going at a time?” 

“If the lane is wide enough you can have as many as the strip will hold, but it’s more common for just a one on one,” Stallion told her as they rounded another corner. “Don’t park. Go to the end where you see Sergio.” 

She nodded and turned, then kept going to where Sergio was. She stopped right on the line Sergio was standing on. Suddenly, on her left pulled up a Subaru BRZ. It stopped on the line as well. 

“So is this the shit car you were talking about?” Kitsune asked. 

Stallion nodded. “The two cars are matched perfectly. His issue is he is a stick shift and yours an automatic. He is inexperienced with a manual transmission. He’ll smoke his clutch before he gets to the finish line.” 

As the two talked Sergio stepped up to the passenger's door, leaning over he rested on the door. “She looks like she could bite nails in half, Stallion. You sure about this?”

“She will do fine,” Stallion said looking over at him.

“Well, it’s too late even if we weren’t,” Kitsune sighed. “So let’s do this. If he’s trying to drive a car he has no experience with, then this will be a cakewalk.” She smirked over at Stallion.

Sergio chuckled and nodded. “Transfer the 2k to Grim.” He watched her open her panel and did as he asked. “Good luck, Kit.” He told her patting the door as he stood and went to the other car.

Kitsune took another deep breath and nodded. “Okay. So Grim told me not to hold down the gas all the way. Stay out of the red…” She turned to Stallion. “Anything else I should know before I do this?” 

“Yeah, don’t listen to Grim. You’re on a drag strip. When Frogger drops the flag you floor it.” Stallion told her as she looked over at her with a wide smirk.

Kitsune had a worried look on her face like she was scared of what might happen, but before she could say anything else Sergio stepped up in front of the cars and waved them back slightly until their front bumpers were back over the starting line.

“Let’s keep this clean boys and girls! And may the best driver win!” He stepped aside as Frogger stepped up between the two cars.

The guy in the Subaru BRZ was revving his motor as Kitsune looked over at him nervously. 

“Watch the street not him, and challenge him back.” Stallion told her.

“How?” Kitsune asked.

“Put your foot on the brake and hold it.” She watched Kitsune do so. “Now rev your motor.” 

Kitsune did as Stallion told her and the car came to life like an angry wildcat. The car acted like it was going to jump forward, fighting against the breaks to take off. The tires spun underneath the car sounding almost like a chirping. She flinched in her seat and took her foot off the gas. 

“What the hell?! I’m gonna ruin the tires before I even start!” 

Stallion chuckled. “If that ruins your tires then all of us are in debt up to our ears for new tires.” Seeing Frogger step into place Stallion grabbed the gearshift and dropped Kitsune’s car into low, thus causing Kitsune to look over at her. “Pay no mind to me, just drive and don’t take your foot off the accelerator unless I tell you to.” 

Kitsune’s heart was in her ears. She huffed and gave Stallion a pointed look. “After this is over, you owe me a lesson on everything that happened from this point to the finish line,” Kitsune pointed with her index finger without taking her hand off the wheel. 

“You just drive and let me do the shifting. Tomorrow you and I will hit the simulators for a little drag racing, but tonight we are here to break you in.” A short pause fell as Froggers arms lifted. “And win.”

Just then, Froggers arms dropped and to Stallion’s surprise, Kitsune shot off like a bullet. Stallion bumping the gearshift up almost immediately as they left the starting line, the car lurched forward slightly. After a few more seconds she bumped it up again, the car lurching forward once more.

Kitsune gripped the wheel white-knuckled, her back pressed into the seat. “Isn’t this cheating?!” She shouted, her eyes on the road and her foot to the floor. 

“No such thing,” Stallion told her as they started pulling further ahead and Stallion bumped the gearshift up into drive. Kitsune’s car started to pull ahead almost a full fenders length as they darted past the finish line.

“Slow her down, but don’t slam on the breaks,’” Stallion informed her as she looked back hearing the squealing of brakes as she watched the Subaru BRZ come to a squirrely stop.

Kitsune pushed on the brakes, lightly at first then harder bit by bit as the car took its time slowing down. Soon, she was at a full stop. She put the car in park and let go of the wheel, her arms limp. 

“D-did we do it? Did we win? I wasn’t even looking…” She turned to look at Stallion, panting. “I think I closed my eyes for a second. Maybe a couple seconds actually.” 

“You tell me, what do you think happened?” Stallion chuckled opening her door as a large group came running up to Kitsune’s car, and the driver’s door opened. 

Kitsune tried to speak but was pulled out of the car and surrounded by tons of people she didn’t even know, either hugging her, patting her on the back, or cheering in her ear. Several guys pushed their way to the front, trying to talk to her or even touch her. It was flattering but a bit frightening too, to say the least. 

“Th-thank you, but--” She tried to brush their hands away. 

“Hey! Hands off! Back the hell up!” Shadow shoved his way through until he was standing next to Kitsune. He turned and shoved his finger in the face of the guy closest to them. “Keep your hands to yourself or lose them! Your choice.” 

He turned and grinned down at Kitsune, taking her waist in his hands and leaning down to kiss her full on the mouth. The group around them cheered and whooped and hollered. After pulling away, he lifted her up onto his waist, lifting her up above the crowd. 

Kitsune laughed as she looked at the people around her. She smiled down at Shadow. “I could get used to this.” 

“Hell yeah!” Shadow smirked. 

He let her down only to move her to his shoulders. He lifted her high and Kitsune let out a loud “wooo” as she threw her arms in the air. The crowd followed suit, applauding her and shouting.

Stallion walked off, walking up to her brother as she was chuckling under her breath. Stepping up beside him she crossed her arms over her abdomen. “Think she will turn on us once you have taught her everything about the game?” Whistle asked his sister.

Stallion shook her head. “If she stays true to what she told me in the office today… No. But that was before she got a taste of what really takes place out here.” She looked at her brother and patted his shoulder. “We just have to ride this wave-like we do with all the others, Big Bro.”

She opened her panel and plucked out her new car, the Nissan GTR, the chameleon paint job not revealing the car's true color.

“Why?” Whistle asked her with a chuckle, rubbing his forehead as he looked at the car. 

“Because I can,” Stallion told him, opening the driver’s door and climbing in the car. “My turn to play now.” She told him as she started it, everything around them shook as the motor rumbled under the hood. In a flash and a squeal of the tires, the GTR was gone.

Once Kitsune’s car was parked off the strip, she and Shadow stood at the finish line, waiting to watch the next race. 

“I can’t believe how crazy that was,” Kitsune huffed in relief. “That was insane. I mean, I know I owe that victory to Stallion, but still. Wow!”

“Yeah, and I got all of it on tape,” Shadow grinned. “I recorded the whole thing, so you can watch it later.” 

“Good, cause I can barely remember anything,” Kitsune giggled. “I have to learn how to do this on my own, without someone playing co-pilot with me. Stallion said tomorrow we were going to hit the simulators.”

“I’ll be there too if I can,” Shadow nodded. 

Suddenly he heard the rumbling of a car’s engine. He didn’t expect the sound to catch his attention, given that the next race was gearing up to start and there were countless cars around. However, it was loud enough and close enough to grab his attention nonetheless. He turned around, seeing it was some old car with an extremely powerful engine. It rolled by, disappearing in the crowd. Shadow was just about to turn away when he saw a car across the way that he recognized immediately. He blinked, turning around fully to focus all of his attention on it. 

It was a 1970 Dodge Charger R/T in the color black with a blower sticking from the hood. 

“No… fucking way…” 

Kitsune blinked and turned around. “What? What’s wrong?” 

Shadow grabbed her by the arm and dragged her forward. “Come here.”

“Huh?! But the race is going to start soon! I want to watch Stallion race!”

“You’ll get to! Just hold on!” He dragged her in front of the Charger and pointed to it. “That’s it! That’s the Charger! The Charger!”

“Oh my God…” Kitsune gawked at it. “Holy shit, it is the Charger! It’s the exact same!” 

“Take a screenshot of me and the car!” Shadow ran over closer to it.

“WHAT?! TSUKIRO, YOU IDIOT!” Kitsune shouted at him then covered her mouth, looking around. “You’re gonna get us killed! You heard what Stallion said! If you so much as put a finger on that car whoever owns it is gonna knock our teeth in!” 

“Relax, Kit! I’m not gonna touch it. I’m not that stupid.” Shadow kneeled down in front of the car, putting about a foot between him and the nose. He was smiling like a kid in a candy store. “Okay, hurry up and take it before whoever owns it comes back.” 

Kitsune sighed and shook her head. “If the person comes back and sees this, it’s your head on a--” She looked up from her screen and blinked. Her jaw dropped and she raised her hands in surrender, the panel closing. She took two huge steps back. 

“What the hell is wrong with you? You look like you saw a--” 

Shadow stood up and turned around to see a tall, muscular bald guy wearing a black tank, rugged but fitting jeans, classic Timberland boots, and a silver cross around his neck. He was somewhere in between Caucasian and Latino with piercing brown eyes. Behind him was a Latina girl with long brown hair and a mean-looking stare. She was wearing a crop top and jeans and chewing bubble gum. Next to her was a blond guy who looked like some sort of Calvin Klein model. 

Shadow was shaking in his boots. He backed away from the car slowly, holding his trembling hands up in front of him. “N-now hold on… I didn’t touch the car. I swear I didn’t!” He turned and looked at Kitsune desperately. “K-Kit, tell him I didn’t touch the car.” Kitsune nodded her head with a bobble, then shook her head. Unable to speak and unsure of how to convey the answer without the use of words. 

The man looked at the front of the car, then back to Shadow. “So it seems. I guess you get to keep your teeth tonight.” His voice was deep and husky. Exactly what Shadow heard in his mind before the man even spoke.

Shadow, still shaking violently, slowly lowered his hands. “I… I just wanted a picture…” 

“Ah, is that it?” The man smirked slightly. “In that case, pictures are one hundred Slips each.” 

Shadow suddenly stopped shaking. He blinked at the man and stared at him in disbelief. “H-huh?”

“Did I stutter?” The man took his hand and ran it over the hood of the car. “Pictures are one hundred Slips each. Autographs will run you five hundred Slips. If you want to touch her, that will be one thousand Slips. A peek under the hood is two thousand.” He looked back up at Shadow with a look in his eye that Shadow couldn’t decipher. “And if you want a ride… I can always toss you in the trunk and race down the highway at a buck fifty.” 

Shadow slowly turned and looked back at Kitsune. She grimaced and raised her hands in the air in a confused manner. Shadow turned back to the man and smiled tightly. “Uh… just the picture. Two actually. One for me and one for my girl.”

The man nodded. “Two hundred then.” 

Shadow opened his panel and went to the screen for transferring funds. “Uh… username?”

“Dominic Toretto,” he answered plainly. 

Shadow froze for a whole ten seconds, then swallowed so hard his throat gurgled. He laughed nervously and typed in the name. Sure enough, up popped the account and Shadow transferred two hundred Slips to him. 

Dominic’s panel pinged him with a notification of the funds transferred. He nodded and closed it. “Great. And just so you know, I come complimentary with the pictures.” He couldn’t tell if he was serious or not, so he just nodded. “Front shot or side shot?”

“Um… from the side,” Shadow answered. 

The two of them stood at the side of the car and Kitsune shuffled around and back some to get the full car in the picture. Shadow stood next to Dominic who leaned on the car, his arms crossed over his broad chest. Shadow stood at least a good six inches away from it with his hands stuffed in his pockets, wearing a nervous smile. 

Kitsune took the screenshot, making sure to get it clear the first time, and nodded to them. They switched spots and Kitsune took Shadow’s, only she stood the same distance away from both the car and Dominic. 

“Don’t worry,” Dominic smirked at her. “I don’t bite… unless you want me to.” 

Kitsune giggled a nervous, unnatural sounding laugh. She heard the girl Dominic was with, growl low in her chest. Kitsune jumped and faced forward. 

“Smile,” she heard Dominic say. 

A few seconds later, Shadow took the screenshot and Kitsune rushed forward, away from both the car and its owner. Shadow stood before Dominic nervously. “Um… well… Thanks for the pictures. We were really surprised to see it. I mean, seriously. A 1970 Charger R/T? And looking like that? Damn…” 

“Thanks… But actually,” Dominic pointed to the car. “She’s a ‘69. Not a ‘70. The game doesn’t offer the real one, but she’s close enough. Especially considering the real one IRL isn’t much real than this either. They used a ‘68 and threw ‘70 parts on it.”

“Yeah, I remember reading that,” Shadow nodded. “Well, thanks anyway.” He held his hand out to Dominic. 

“No problem,” Dominic shook his hand. 

Shadow and Kitsune turned to run off as quickly as they could, but they didn’t get too far before they were stopped. 

“Hey, wait a minute.” They turned, their blood running cold. Dominic pointed to Shadow. “What’s your name?”

“Shadow Demon…” Shadow replied hesitantly. 

Dominic opened his panel, and a few seconds later Shadow’s panel pinged a notification of a transfer of 200 Slips. Shadow blinked up at him. Dominic pointed at Shadow. “You’re too gullible. Grow out of that quickly. If not, you’ll lose more than just 200 Slips next time.” 

Dominic turned around and moved to the front of the car, opening the hood and pulling a rag out of his pocket.

Shadow felt a chill run down his spine. He swallowed hard again and grabbed Kitsune by the arm. “Run.”

“Y-yeah.” 

Swinging around after her race, Stallion saw Kitsune and Shadow running back to Kitsune’s car that was still parked at the side of the road where she parked it after her race. She shook her head wondering what spooked them until she looked back seeing the player that was portraying himself as the guy from Fast and the Furious. She chuckled while driving past him as she waved out the window at him and his two friends. They waved back. She did not know them personally but she had heard they were pretty cool. But until the day came she had to go head to head with that beast he called a car, she was not worried about him. Rounding the corner she followed the road taking her around the block, back to the crowd.

Kitsune threw open the door to her Toyota, huffing and panting--half from the run and half from terror. “I’m gonna be sick.” 

“I thought I was dead for sure. I can’t believe that happened,” Shadow said through his heavy breathing, one hand on his hip and the other on his forehead. 

Kitsune whirled around on him. “You?! You thought you were dead?! I thought he was gonna beat us both into the ground!” She punched him in the chest. “I can’t believe you roped me into that! You almost got us on the shit list of probably the best street racer in this game! And I thought Letty was gonna rip my head off!” 

Shadow blinked at her, shaking his head. “Who?”

“Don’t ‘who,’ me! Letty! Dom’s girl!”

“I know who you’re talking about, Kit! I’m saying what makes you think that her username was Letty?” 

Kitsune gave him one of her infamous death glares and punched him in the chest again so hard he coughed up a lung. “If you doubt for a second that, that girl’s username wasn’t Letty Ortiz and that blondie behind him wasn’t named Brian O’Conner or Paul Walker or some shit, then you are a piss poor excuse for a Fast and the Furious fan.”

“Okay, okay, fine,” he coughed. “Point taken.”

“Just get in the car and let’s go find Stallion before we really do get our asses beat,” Kitsune sighed, slipping around in the driver’s seat to face forward. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Shadow said in an exhausted and defeated tone. “At least we got pics though.” 

“Oh shut it! We both look like we were being held hostage in those pics.” 

Sitting around watching the others race after she parked her car, Stallion finally saw Kitsune and Shadow walked toward the group. 

“There you are, did you forget how to get back to the main drag or did the Dom wannabe scare the shit out of you so bad you forgot how to drive?” Whistle asked them with a hardy laugh.

Shadow gave Whistle a wide-eyed look and pointed back in the general direction of the Latin Terror, as Shadow was calling him in his mind. “You’re calling that man a wannabe?! For all I care, he’s the real fucking thing! I thought it was a fucking NPC before he mentioned the franchise!” 

“Nope, just some kid and his girl and a friend playing the role,” Whistle told them.

“We have a few wannabes in this game. We even have Herbie.” High Roller told them. “And damn does that little bug fly!”

“Fucking Herbie,” Kitsune sighed in exasperation. She turned and glared at Shadow. “You couldn’t have found the fucking Love Bug, could you?! Nope, you had to find fucking Dom Toretto!” She threw her hands up. “And then you made me take a picture of you with the car without permission! And then you let him fool you into thinking he was running a freaking convention center meet and greet! A hundred Slips a pop for pictures. A thousand if you want to touch it and fifteen hundred just to look at its guts. My God, I could throttle you right now, and I don’t mean with the car!”

When Stallion and the group gave her a laugh of pity, she made a face at them. “Yes, I know it was a bad joke and probably not used properly.” 

“Don’t ream his ass too badly, Kit. You’re going to see a lot of wannabes in this game. If you can think of a popular car in a movie or even a TV show it’s in here. There is a guy with the GT 500 from ‘Gone in 60 Seconds,’ the Mini Coopers from ‘Italian Job’, the Camaro from Transformers dressed up like Bumblebee and the Autobots sticker on it, and like High Roller said ‘Herbie’. So just enjoy.” Stallion looked to Shadow. “And take as many pics as you want they can’t say anything about that. Just don’t touch.” 

Shadow gave a sheepish grin and sat down on the Toyota’s hood with Kitsune. “I got punked by Dom. Does that make you feel better?”

Kitsune gave him a pointed look. “If you really want to make me feel better, find Herbie.” 

As the two talked Sergio ran up and looked at Stallion. “I have a taker on your challenge.”

Stallion stood with a wide smirk. “Really, and who might that be?”

Sergio stepped aside as Stallion stepped closer to the road. “HA! And look who it is!” She turned and looked at Shadow. “Your turn.” She walked over and grabbed his arm tugging him toward her car. 

“Huh?” Shadow blinked, looking at the track as Stallion dragged him off. That was when he saw the greenish-grey Mustang Shelby GT500, Eleanor, from Gone in 60 Seconds. 

“Oh fuck me.” 


	5. Chapter 5

Shadow sat behind the wheel of his 2008 Dodge Challenger. The yin to the Charger’s yang. The problem was that his was horribly standard, and he was up against a Mustang. But not just any Mustang. A Mustang Shelby GT500.

Shadow sighed and looked over at the sidelines. Watching was Dominic Toretto and his crew. Or team rather. Dominic locked eyes with him and Shadow immediately looked away, turning to Stallion. “The specs on this car said the factory version can run the quarter-mile in 13.26 if it’s going 112 mph. I know that Mustang isn’t factory--it obviously has wrench time on it--but what would it run if it was factory?”

Stallion grinned at him. “8.92 if it goes 157 mph.”

Shadow’s eyes widened at her. “And you’re making me race this thing?! If Kitsune thought you were gonna make her lose, then you sure as hell are trying to run me into the ground. How do you expect me to win against that wild horse?!”

“Well…” She looked over at the GT500. “I did not expect him to answer the call, but--”

“Why is there always a but?” Shadow growled, his fingers combing through his hair.

Stallion chuckled. “Stop freaking out. So what if you lose? It’s a learning experience. However~” She said in a sing-song tone. “You’re not going to lose. One thing I do know about a Mustang is it takes them a bit to get out of the hole.”

Shadow sat there and stared at her like she sprouted two extra heads. He turned and gestured at the road with both hands over the wheel and dash. “What hole?! I see no hole, Stallion! This road is more pristine than the ones in Japan, and if the movies and TV shows and commercials are any indications, America’s roads aren’t much better. So what hole? Hmm? Or are we talking about the proverbial hole I’ve been digging myself since I logged on to this game? That hole?”

Stallion punched him high on his arm causing Shadow to wince. “The hole we are sitting in! The starting line is called a hole. Mustangs have a hard time hooking up so it takes them a second to get that initial get up and go. Your car does not have that issue. Put it in low and when Frogger drops you put your foot down and go. I will shift the car like I did with Kit. Also--”

“Oh my God! That word is as bad as the but word!” Shadow groaned as he palmed his face.

“Knock it off!” Stallion smacked him with the back of her hand. “You’re only running the eighth-mile.”

Shadow blinked. “So you’re saying any more than an eighth of a mile and I might as well just give him the cash directly? But in the short run, I can beat him because I can get my ass moving quicker than he does. But any longer than that and he has more than enough time and power to catch up to me.”

“For now. Yes,” Stallion replied slipping into her seatbelt. “Buckle up for safety.” She smiled over to him as Sergio walked up to the car.

“Says the daredevil to the couch potato,” Shadow mumbled, dodging her hand when she went to smack him. He grumbled and locked in his seatbelt.

After Sergio collected the money from both racers he stepped in front of the cars, said his little spiel then Frogger took his place.

Shadow sighed and revved his engine, looking over at the guy in the Mustang. The guy smirked at him and revved his back. Shadow’s engine was lost in the roar of the Mustang’s.

“I regret everything,” Shadow said mostly to himself.

Stallion chuckled looking over at him, it was only seconds after and Frogger’s arms dropped to signal them to go. The Challenger shot forward, Stallion hearing Shadow curse.

“SHIT!”

She chuckled at him, shifting gears causing the car to lurch once more. 

Shadow kept his eyes on the road, but in his peripheral vision, he saw the greenish-grey of the Mustang. They were close. Way too close. He started to wonder if he would actually win this, but by the time he thought that it was over. He looked around them as he slowed down gradually. He looked over at Stallion when he was completely stopped.

“Did I do it? I couldn’t tell. There’s no way I won that. Well, we.”

“Take it back and let’s find out. It was close but I don’t know which one of you got it.” Stallion told him.

The two cars pulled around back to the start through the off-road. The crowd was buzzing with debate, people going back and forth on who won. It was to the point with some people that they were in each others’ faces, ready to box over it. They were probably people that bet on the wrong car, whoever the wrong car turned out to be. Shadow looked over at the player in the Mustang to see him smirking widely at him. He was confident. Maybe overconfident. Or maybe just confident enough. Shadow looked to his right and caught a glimpse of Dominic staring at him, his arms crossed. He thought he saw his head nod the slightest bit, but he dismissed the thought as wishful thinking.

Once they were parked near the starting line, he and Stallion got out of the car with the driver of the Mustang, a redhead with forest green eyes and a cocky smirk. Shadow forced himself to ignore the guy, knowing that until they saw proof of who won, he would only try and rub his self-assured victory in his face.

It was a couple of minutes before Sergio came running over to the Thundering Horses waving an 8x10 photo. He was laughing mockingly as he gave Shadow a solid pat on the back and motioned for him to follow as he walked past him. He gave the photo to Stallion and Whistle to look at as Stallion punched the air.

“HELL YES!!”

Whistle chuckled shaking his head as he handed the photo off to Shadow. “Might want to frame that.”

Shadow looked closely at the picture, staring at the noses of the cars like they were going to pop out of the picture and present the answer to him in 3D. The picture was blurry from the speed, but you could clearly see who the winner was if you looked close enough, especially considering the difference in color between the two cars. The picture was taken from the Mustang’s side.

The result was by a fraction of an inch. Probably less than a half an inch, considering he could barely fit a fingernail on the line where the Mustang ended and the Challenger began. Shadow blinked, staring at it unbelieving for a second. Then he looked up at the redhead with a wide smirk of his own. He flipped the picture over and waved it around.

“An inch or a mile. A win is a win. Right, Mustang?”

The redhead’s face matched his hair as he ran up and pointed a finger in Shadow’s face. “Fuck you! You wouldn’t have won if you didn’t have that bitch in the car with you!”

Before another word could be said or a move could be made the redhead had five guys standing around him, Whistle in his face. “I suggest you apologize to Stallion for what you called her and then disappear. Because if you don’t we will make sure you never drive again.”

The redhead looked around at the guys, stepping back away from Whistle. He looked at Stallion and scoffed. He spat on the ground before spitting the word “sorry” at her and turning back to his car. He got in his Mustang and revved the engine before speeding off, almost hitting several people.

“Damn,” Shadow shook his head. “He doesn’t do that car justice at all.”

Stallion looked to the ground shaking her head. “Poor sports don’t need to be racing. They give us all a bad name.” She looked to Kitsune. “And this is the reason the drivers have to hand their Slips over to someone trustworthy.”

Kitsune smiled sadly. “Same reason you don’t gamble with real money in poker. Always someone who regrets their choices in a bet.”

“Yeah, well,” Shadow shook his head. “If you can’t fork over the money--either physically or emotionally--then you shouldn’t make bets. Even if it’s not an official bet you shake on. A bet is a bet. That’s the price you pay for saying ‘I bet’.”

Stallion looked to Shadow and smiled. “So is that why you gave me the 10k for the breaking of the ribs guess?”

“Of course it is. I made the bet. You won. I cashed it. That’s how it goes. Besides. Now you get to have your Mustang back on the road faster instead of waiting for Grab-Ass to make up the rest.”

“Tsuki,” Kitsune gave him a pointed but amused look. “He just wanted a Kit-Kat without Stallion knocking his marbles loose.”

“Still. No man’s hands but mine get that close to your ass,” Shadow pointed at himself. “Kit-Kat or no Kit-Kat, and certainly not your Kit-Kat.”

Kitsune rolled her eyes and looked at Torque. “See what I mean? King of euphemisms.”

Torque giggled as her head bobbed slowly. “It’s his way of showing he cares. You could have some jerk that ignores you or worse. Beats you.”

Kitsune turned and grabbed Shadow by the hand, pulling him towards her. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. “Definitely true. He may be the black knight of the bunch, but he’s my black knight.”

“Meh, I prefer ninja,” Shadow smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist. He turned to Torque and the others. “But you’re right. My father taught me to treat women properly. I wouldn’t dare lay a hand on a woman. At least not in real life. VRs get iffy, but IRL is easy. Keep your hands to yourself, no matter how bad the woman pisses you off.”

“Yeah, is that why you were beating me up in the car at the starting line,” Stallion poked fun at him when he gave her a shocked look.

About six guys standing around them scoffed as High Roller exclaimed. “I am more app to believe he was being a wise-ass and you were beating him up. Right Stallion?”

“I plead the fifth,” Stallion claimed with a wide smirk on her lips.

“Ha! See!? I wasn’t beating you!” Shadow pointed at her. “I was the one being the wise ah--HEY WAITAMINUTE!” He turned and gave a pointed look at High Roller.

The group laughed at him as Kitsune patted his chest. “It’s okay. You wouldn’t be Tsukiro Ashimitsu if you weren’t a wise-ass loudmouth who curses like a sailor and makes inappropriate jokes all the time.”

“Ugh,” Shadow groaned. “I can’t even attempt to deny that.”

The group chuckled as they moved around the cars and watched the rest of the racing before the cops finally got wise and chased them out.

As Shadow sat in the driver’s seat at a red light with Kitsune in her own car--the cops long since lost--he saw a black car pull up next to his own. He turned and saw Dominic in the driver’s seat looking at him.

At first, he panicked, but then he remembered the picture in his pocket. He took it out and waved it around. “An inch or a mile.”

Dominic laughed, shaking his head. The light turned green and he took off like a speeding black bullet, the engine roaring like a lion down the street.

Shadow smirked, putting the picture back in his pocket.

\---

Kaori was beat. As was Tsukiro. They had logged out of SRO well afternoon in Japan. That meant Kaori had been awake for a full day. Tsukiro just less than that. After they logged out, they slept through the whole afternoon and evening. It was crazy for them to have such a drastic change in their sleeping schedules. They hadn’t done this since their summers in high school. They had forgotten how hard it was on them and how mentally confusing it was to switch around to being awake during the night and sleeping during the day. But at least it was during summer vacation and it was actually beneficial to Tsukiro because of Dragon Lance.

However, Ryushiro did come over and wake them up at about eight in the evening, bringing dinner with him.

“What the hell were you two thinking?!” The white-haired, violet-eyed brother of Tsukiro yelled at them. “You were awake for a whole day gaming!?”

“Well, actually, we went out to eat then came home and had--” Tsukiro defended from his spot on the couch next to Kaori.

“Ugh! Don’t even!” Ryushiro threw his hands up, turning away from them. “The only good thing about this is that you did, in fact, eat at least. And you’d still be sleeping if I hadn’t woken you up and brought dinner,” he gestured to the empty take-out containers on the dining table.

“I know, I know,” Kaori rubbed her face, trying not to think about the bags she definitely had under her eyes. “I know I’m the one that’s always harping about this, but…”

“But you’re just as bad as us,” Ryushiro said for her. “You’re lucky we’re on summer break or you’d be screwed.” He sighed, shaking his head. “In any case, I guess it’s not as bad as it could be. After all, nothing can be as bad as being stuck in SAO for two years. Just… don’t kill yourselves slowly with this.”

He went to clean up the table, leaving his brother and Kaori on the couch. “Also, Kazuto was looking for you in Dragon Lance this evening. He even checked GGO and ALO. I had no idea where you were. He was starting to get worried. You should call him and explain.”

“Shit. Yeah, I’ll do that,” Tsukiro took his phone out of his pocket and looked at it for the first time since he woke up. There were twenty calls and about a dozen texts as well as five voicemails. “Damn, Kazuto! I was only half dead, not full dead.”

“No… No full dead was exclusively me this time,” Kaori sighed, shaking her head. “Still… I’m hooked on SRO and you’re dealing with DL, so maybe this is the best thing for now. We can stock up on groceries and get take out and delivery for a while. Not any more than a week or so, but just long enough for both of us to get somewhere in both of our games.”

Tsukiro paused then looked up at Ryushiro. Ryushiro looked back at him then pointed at him sternly. “No! NO! I have no idea what you want, but whatever it is, the answer is no! I know that look! You gave me that look all the damn time in SAO! That’s your ‘I’m your big brother and I have to protect you so I need you to do something you won’t like’ look!”

“Shiro--”

“NO! I’M NOT DOING IT!”

“Shiro wait--”

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU LA LA LA!” Ryushiro walked from the table to the trash, yelling at the top of his lungs. He tossed the cartons into the trash.

Tsukiro looked to Kaori who patted his leg and nodded. Tsukiro stood up and walked over to Ryushiro. He grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in for a tight hug. “Ryushiro. Please…”

Ryushiro pouted. He knew he was going to cave. He always did. “No.”

“Please, just stay out of DL as much as possible, okay? I can’t have you getting hurt like Nema did… Please, just…” He pulled back and placed his hands on Ryushiro’s face. “For me? Please?”

Ryushiro sighed and rolled his eyes. “And what am I supposed to do? Play ALO by myself?”

“I know!” Kaori jumped up with a big smile. “You can join SRO! Come play SpeedRunner with me!”

Ryushiro gave her a dead look. “And now you’re dragging me into your narcoleptic cycle?”

“I don’t think that word means what you think it means…”

“Still!” Ryushiro looked to Tsukiro. His flaming blue eyes were still stern and begging. A begging Tsukiro was not good. He moved away from him and threw his hands up in the air like he did earlier. “Ugh! Alright, fine! I’ll only log onto DL when Cerberus or the others need me, okay?”

Tsukiro smiled, hugging him one last time and even kissing him on the cheek. “Thanks. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Yeah, you better,” Ryushiro pouted, his cheeks tinged pink.

Kaori giggled, shaking her head. “Well, if you’re going to come into SRO with me, you’d better get home. I’ll be there waiting in the lobby of The Winner’s Circle when you get logged in. Make sure you pick LA as your spawning point.”

“Yeah yeah. You two better love me forever for all the stuff I do for you. Freaking nocturnal, narcoleptic… NINCOMPOOPS!”

Tsukiro and Kaori snorted before bursting out laughing at him.

“SHUT UP! I COULDN’T THINK OF ANOTHER 'N' WORD OKAY!?”

\---

Stallion was waiting in the simulator room for Kitsune. As she made herself comfortable against the wall, she was looking at a flyer that was left behind by one of the other players that came to practice in the simulators earlier that day. It had the dates on there for all the up and coming bracket races and the date for the Sound Breaker Tournament where she had to go to defend her title. She had one month according to the date on the flyer.

“Plenty of time,” she smirked looking up to see if Kitsune had arrived yet. Instead, she saw none other than Grim walking into the room. “Back again I see. Still trying to master drifting?” She asked him folding the flyer and sliding it in her pocket.

“Yep, and I will get it. It’s just a matter of time and a lot of cursing on my part.” Grim told her as he walked up to Stallion and gave her a hug.

Stallion returned his hug then the two stepped back from one another. “Well, you picked a good day. The simulators are dead. I think I have seen a total of 4 people since I got here and I have been here about 30 minutes.”

“Damn! What are you waiting for? Prince Charming to come sweep you off your feet?” Grim asked her.

Stallion chuckled. “Not on your life, and there is no way in hell Prince Charming would dare set a foot in this dump.”

Grim chuckled. “You never know”--he gestured to himself--“I am here.”

“HA!” Stallion burst out.

Just then, the two heard Kitsune’s voice ring out over the hum of the simulators as they both looked her way with a smile.

“See? I told you that you’d love it,” Kitsune giggled at Ryushiro, who had decided to just go with his real name for once.

“Well, yeah, but you didn’t say it was like Speed Racer and all that! When you said racing I was thinking boring old NASCAR and dark, dank alleyways where the crackheads and heroin addicts hang out.” Ryushiro rolled his eyes at her. “But this is way cool! It’s like the future everyone keeps hoping for but never comes! Like Back to the Future!”

Ryushiro was dressed in a fitting white, long-sleeved shirt with a loose crew collar and sleeves that clung to his hands. Over it was a purple zip-up hoodie with white rings around the biceps like his brother’s and white hemming on the bottom and sleeves. It was white on the inside as well. On his legs were white jeans with black sewing and he wore dark purple and white high tops. His hair was exactly like it was in real life: white and wild and fluffy. His eyes were still the same bright, rich, royal purple color. Around his neck was a silver checkered flag pendant necklace.

“I can’t wait to upgrade and decal my car!” He clenched his fists. “Purple leather seats here I come!”

Kitsune laughed, shaking her head. She looked forward, seeing Stallion and Grim. She smiled and waved then grabbed Ryushiro’s hand. “There they are. Let’s go!”

When they came close to them, she greeted them. “Hey, Stallion. Grim. Ready to practice?”

Stallion was in a daze when they stepped up to them as she looked on at the guy Kitsune had brought. Suddenly she snapped out of it shaking her head realizing the person she was looking at could be Shadow. After all, they were allowed to change their Avi’s within the first 24 hours if they did not like their first choice of Avi.

As she looked at Kitsune she smiled warmly then she looked back to who she thought was Shadow. “Afraid Toretto might come looking for you so you changed your look, Shadow?”

Ryushiro’s bright smile fell to a tight and confused one. He blinked and turned slowly to Kitsune. “What’s happening?” He whispered none too quietly.

Kitsune laughed and shook her head. She smiled at Stallion. “Stallion,” she waved her arms around Ryushiro, “meet the other half of the Ashimitsu brothers. This is Ryushiro. The younger brother. The yin to Tsukiro’s yang. The white to the black. The purple to the blue.”

“Well, that doesn’t really make sense, actually,” Ryushiro made a face at her. “Technically orange is blue’s complementary color. Purple’s complimentary is yellow. Actually, blue and purple are analogous colors since they’re next to each other on the color wheel.”

The three of them stared at him silently for a long moment. “What?! I’m right!” Ryushiro held his hands up and shrugged.

Kitsune smiled and waved her arms around Ryushiro again. “The yin to Tsukiro’s yang, Ryushiro Ashimitsu.”

Ryushiro pouted with a huff. “I’m still right.”

Grim looked to Kitsune and then to Shadow’s little brother. “So you know how to keep your mouth shut and act like a normal human being?” Grim chuckled.

“Yes!”

“No.”

Ryushiro looked over and pouted at Kitsune. “What do you mean no?! I can behave!”

“‘Behave’ is not the same as ‘keep your mouth shut,’” Kitsune gave him a pointed look.

Ryushiro raised his finger and opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it and closed it, lowering his hand. He turned around to find something random to look at.

Kitsune grinned at the other two. “I stand corrected. The answer is yes.”

Grim chuckled again. “I am the Grim Reaper,” he offered his hand to the boy. “And as I am sure you were told or heard. This is Stallion.” As the boy turned to shake his hand, Grim looked at the boy's eyes and gave a chuckle. “Hey Stallion. His eyes are almost the same color as your car.”

Stallion looked over at Ryushiro as she looked into his eyes. Grim was right. His eyes were as deep in color. She stood there for what felt like hours and just stared into his eyes. A few seconds later it sounded like someone off in the distance was calling her name.

“Stallion, hello Stallion, Earth to Stallion. Hellooooo, Stallion~” Grim whistled softly.

Hearing someone whistle she looked over at Grim as Kitsune was giggling. “What?!”

Ryushiro laughed with a bright smile. “It’s okay. I get that a lot with my eyes and hair. They’re natural too. Same as Tsuki’s blue ones. We always get compliments on them. Tsuki has our dad’s and I have our mom’s. But, hey! I’d love to see your car! I bet it’s an awesome shade! Is it like a plum purple? Or maybe an orchid color? Or is it more eggplant than purple? More black maybe? My eyes are more like violets.”

“The thing about Ryushiro,” Kitsune smiled. “He’s not a potty mouth like Tsuki, but he talks almost twice as much. Especially when excited.”

Stallion smiled looking at Kitsune. “That’s alright. I like the sound of his voice. It’s calming. Shadow’s makes me want to punch him because I know something smart-assed is coming out of his mouth. He just has that tone to him. Like in the car last night and his but thing.”

Ryushiro laughed, scruffing his hair. “Sorry about him. He means well though. Sometimes it’s him wanting to be funny. Sometimes it’s just him speaking before he thinks, but he’s a good guy at heart. He just needs to learn the art of timing his jokes. But we love him anyway.” He looked to Kitsune. “Or at least you do.”

Kitsune slapped him on the shoulder, her mouth popping open. “Shiro!”

“Ow! What?! You know I’m right! I mean, I love him to death too, but geez he’s pushy! Like earlier!”

“He just has a pushy way of showing his love,” Kitsune sighed. She turned to Stallion with a smile. “Anyway, should we hop into the simulators while it’s still dead in here?”

Stallion smiled nodding her head to Kitsune then looked over at Ryushiro. “You want to play?”

Ryushiro gave a bright and cocky grin. “Well, it’s a game, isn’t it? Games are meant to be played!”

Stallion opened her panel. “What’s your user name?”

“Just Ryushiro. Usually, I use Okamishiro, but it just didn’t fit for this game so,” he shrugged, “first name it is.”

Stallion chuckled lightly as she as well as Grim typed in his username. “It’s a good thing you did not go with that username. I don't think I could spell it.” She looked to Kitsune as she closed her panel. “Have you added him? If not you need to or the four of us will not be able to link up together for the race.”

“Yup, already done,” Kitsune nodded with a smile. “We’re good to go.”

Stallion nodded. “I changed out the GTR for my starter car before I came here. Yes! It is upgraded to the extent the game will allow but it will be fairer to you in a race than if I used the GTR.” She looked to Ryushiro. “What did you get stuck with at startup?”

Ryushiro smiled at her. “2008 BMW Z4. White of course. But I wish they would have let me put decals on it. Plain is no fun.” He blinked. “Actually I take that back. Plain just has more room for other stuff, so…”

Stallion smiled at him as they walked toward the simulators. “Well, when it comes to stuff like that it’s not really looked at as an upgrade. It just improves the look, so you can manually add it. Can you paint?" 

Ryushiro put his hand on his heart and gasped like he was offended.

“Oh please, God, no,” Kitsune put her face in her hands.

“Can I paint? Can I, Ryushiro Ashimitsu, paint?” He continued as if he were setting the record straight. “In high school, I was the art director for all three of our school plays. I designed my class’ booth at the cultural festival all three years. Some of my best pieces were sold in a charity art auction--”

“Alright we get it”--Grim rolled his eyes--“you can paint. Get on with it.”

Stallion smacked Grim on the arm with narrowed eyes. “Leave him alone!”

Grim’s mouth fell open as he looked on at Stallion. He could say nothing as he looked on at her.

Stallion rolled her eyes and looked back at Ryushiro with a bright smile. “So if you want we have a garage you can paint whatever you like on the side of your car.”

“WHAT!?!” Grim exclaimed. “You told Ghost to shove it up his ass last time he asked to paint there!”

Stallion turned slowly and glared at him. Grim reached over nonchalantly and took Kitsune’s hand and slowly tugged her the direction of the simulators. “Let’s go this way before something bad happens. Like the loss of my balls.”

Kitsune giggled, following Grim away from Stallion. “Whatever you say, Mr. Death.”

Ryushiro smiled at the two of them as they walked away then turned back to Stallion. “Grim kinda reminds me of Tsuki. Fun, but annoying sometimes, but you still can’t find the energy to fully hate him.” Before Stallion could respond, he started talking again. “In any case, if you ever need a fresh coat of paint, once I learn the tricks of the game, I can paint pretty much anything.”

“I never thought of artwork on the side of my Stang, but maybe my Nissan Silvia S15. Maybe you could paint something on it. I would, of course, pay you for it.” She smiled warmly. “Can’t survive on air alone in this game, or maybe I could work on your car for payment. Whatever you think is fair for your work.”

“Sounds great to me!” Ryushiro smiled twice as brightly. “I’m happy just being able to paint something! This gives me something to do while I figure out what exactly I want to do in this game. I’m not too sure I want to race or just do bodywork.”

Stallion smirked. “Well, you can work on my body any day.”

Ryushiro blinked, thinking about what he said. Suddenly he flushed and hid his face in his hoodie. “Uh… that came out wrong. I’m sorry...”

“I’m just kidding… Kinda...” Stallion said under her breath as she chuckled lightly, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket she tugged him toward the simulators where Kitsune and Grim were waiting.

They each hopped into a simulator of their own and loaded the same session, materializing in their cars on a standard drag strip track with a long, mile and a half long road and an off-road to drive back. It was a racing quality track rather than one in the middle of a desert or in the suburbs.

Ryushiro looked around the cockpit of the car, examining everything. The first words out of his mouth on the headset were, “The wheel is on the wrong side! Everything is backward! Do I have to drive backward too?”

“I will tell you the same thing I told your sister-in-law. There is no real difference on which side the steering wheel is on. Just drive.” Grim told Ryushiro.

“He is right Ryushiro. Everything is still in the same place as if it were on the right side of the car. There was no originality in moving it from the left to the right when they did this. It was like they just cut the dash in half and switched them around,” Stallion explained further. 

“Well, that was dumb,” Ryushiro put his hands on the wheel. “Considering the first car was a Ford, and hence an American car, why didn’t they just keep all cars on the left? It’s like America and the weird measurements but backward.”

Stallion chuckled. “Of course it was to accommodate the ones in Europe. They drove on the opposite side of the road than us. I guess they were too lazy to think up their own layout of the other features on the dash. Not to mention the initial switching of everything is a real pain in itself.” 

“Anyway, what do we do on this road? Just speed down it as fast as you can?” Ryushiro looked ahead of them at the long stretch of track.

“So Stallion makes it seem, but it’s more complicated than that,” Kitsune said with a pointed tone.

“It is not complicated,” Stallion huffed.

“Says she who races IRL,” Kitsune retorted with a laugh.

“Well, if we can figure out even the most convoluted of RPG controls, controlling a car must not be that much harder. Easier than making your fingers press ten different buttons at the same time,” Ryushiro hummed, looking around the car again. “Especially if there’s less buttons to push.”

Stallion chuckled. “There is no buttons to push in this game. Unless it's the buttons of another racer or you have NOS in your car.” 

Ryushiro laughed and shrugged. “Eh. Buttons, knobs, levers, switches. They all serve the same purpose really. Just different mechanics.” He wiggled his feet around below the dash. “Okay! Less talk, more speed! How do we do this?”

Stallion and Grim chuckled as Stallion started to explain. “Alright then, Kit. This is what I want you to do.” When she replied Stallion continued. “Remember what I did last night with shifting your car manually?” She heard Kitsune hum in reply once more. “You’re going to be doing that here today, but first off you're going to listen to your motor. Because it will be what tells you when you need to shift up.”

Kitsune nodded. “The faster I learn this, the easier it will be to do what you did on my own. Can’t have a co-pilot forever. I can’t imagine too many people will be happy with that. Especially like that guy Shadow won against.”

“So what sound does the engine make that tells you when to shift?” Ryushiro asked.

“A motor will sound like it is under a strain when it needs to be shifted, and you will see on the RPM gauge that the needle is no longer climbing in RPMs, it will stay in one general area. So this is what I want you to do.” A silence fell for a second.

“I want you to drive your car about 60, down this track. Listen to the motor. Even letting it auto-shift you can hear the strain on the motor and feel the transmission slip into each gear. It’s quick but it’s there.” She looked to Ryushiro. “If you want to drive down the track with her you’re welcome to, just make sure to stay in your own lane.” 

Ryushiro laughed at the words. “The origins of slang words will never cease to amuse me.” He pulled up closer to where Kitsune was at the start of the track. “Whenever you’re ready Kit.”

“Okay. Make sure to keep up,” Kitsune smiled, starting her car. “Three… two… one… Go!”

Ryushiro and Kitsune took off down the track, taking several seconds to speed up to sixty. As they did, they listened closely to the sounds of the car’s engine. Every time the car sped up about fifteen to twenty RPMs or so, the transmission would shift transferring more power to the wheels giving the car more speed. It sounded like the engine was spinning smoothly at one point, then suddenly sped up and made a loud humming noise, not unlike that of a fan being turned from slow to high. Then suddenly it slowed down and calmed back to it’s smooth hum before speeding up again, then slowing back down. Ryushiro picked up on the pattern quickly, though he wondered how it worked when the car was slowing down. Did shifting backward sound the same as speeding up, or different?

Once they slowed down, Ryushiro heard different noises than when they were speeding up. This time it was like the car started to idle for a second before going normal. Once they slowed down enough to drive around the roundabout, Ryushiro played the noises back in his head, trying to remember when the engine started to change noises and which noises meant which way he should shift.

“I think I got it,” Ryushiro nodded, saying mostly to himself but also to Grim and Stallion over the headset. “Pretty simple.”

“You’re kidding?!” Kitsune gawked behind the wheel of her car. “You got it in one pass?! I have to go again just to make sure I was hearing what I was supposed to be hearing and not just making shit up in my head.”

Ryushiro laughed. “It’s okay. Think of it like a fan and you’ll hear it better. Imagine the engine shifting like changing the speed on a box fan. When you turn it up it gets louder and when you slow it down it rumbles, but if you’re going the right speed you shouldn’t hear much of anything but the motor spinning.”

“If it will make it simpler for you, you can start in low gear and manual shift, and don’t worry, Stallion or myself will tell you to shift if you miss it, but doing it this way I doubt you will. It’s far too obvious.” Grim told her as she and Ryushiro made their way back to the starting line.

“Okay,” Kitsune nodded. “Let’s try it that way.”

“I’ll do it with you,” Ryushiro said over the headset. “So I start in low and when I hear the motor running too hard, I move up to the next one?”

“Yes, but don’t let it strain for too long.” Stallion told them.

“Okay, let’s go,” Kitsune said.


	6. Chapter Six

Kitsune counted down, and she and Ryushiro changed gears into low and pushed on the gas gradually. Kitsune heard the sounds Ryushiro was describing a lot more the second time around. It was much louder than when she just left it in drive. Ryushiro must have picked up on it much easier because he pulled ahead of her somewhat and even went faster, reaching the finish line way before her. She didn’t even hear Grim or Stallion tell him to shift, he just did it like he’d been doing it from the start. She huffed and pouted as she watched him turn onto the off-road. 

“That’s so cool!” Ryushiro laughed over the headset. “I should get my car changed over to a manual. It’s way more fun than just sitting there and holding your foot on one pedal.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re happy,” Kitsune sighed. 

“It’s okay, Kit. Don’t be too upset. You just have to practice,” Ryushiro told her encouragingly. 

“It will come to you, Kit. You just have to listen to your motor. It may be an inanimate object but it can and does talk to you.” Stallion told her. “Come back around and do it again until you get comfortable with it. Ryushiro, you can pick up your speed some if you want and see how it works for you.” 

“‘Kay!” Ryushiro said cheerily as he pulled up to the starting line. “Hey! Can you time me? I wanna see how fast I can do it!” 

“Well, we know who the talented racer of the family is,” Kitsune gave a half-smile. 

Stallion grimaced slightly as she looked over at Grim. He nodded slowly with a look that told her ‘let him try’. Stallion turned her attention back to Ryushiro. “Alright then, but if you’re going to do this you’re going to go all out, just make sure you shift in time or you will blow up your motor. Given this is a simulation, but you’re only given three times and then you're evicted.” 

“Well, better to blow it here than out there. I’ll just start at a moderate speed, then speed up each round. Is that better?” Ryushiro asked her.

Grim chuckled, replying to the boy. “If that’s what you want to do.” He looked at Kitsune as she was pulling up to the starting line. “What about you Kit. You up to picking up your speed or you still working on the understanding of the workings.”

“I’m taking it low and slow for now,” Kitsune shook her head. “I’d rather not find out what blowing your motor is like.” 

“Alright, I’m going first then,” Ryushiro sounded off. 

He gave a quick countdown, pulling the shifter back into low, then taking off when he reached one. He listened closely, even closing his eyes for a second to focus on the sound. He shifted when the engine grew louder and gave it more gas. He repeated the process each time he heard the sound. By the time he opened his eyes, he was at the finish line. He let the car slow itself leaving it in drive as he came around the corner to bring the car back around to the starting line. 

“How fast was that?” He asked Stallion and Grim as he followed the road.

“16.2,” Grim announced. 

“Is that good or bad?” Ryushiro asked him. 

“Well, seeing how your car can do 14.01 in the quarter. That’s ok, but you can do better,” Grim informed him. 

“Faster it is then! Should I keep it floored or press on the gas gradually to go faster while shifting?” Ryushiro asked. 

“There are two ways to do it, but until you know without a doubt that you can shift with your foot through the floor, you take your foot ever so slightly off the gas so the pressure on the motor gives some. No, it will not slow you down, it just makes it easier on the motor. Once you have shifted up you can pick back up on the gas,” Stallion told him.

“Got it,” Ryushiro nodded, pulling back up. 

He stopped at the line and shifted down without even thinking about it. The more he did it, the less he thought about it. He counted down once more and took off, not flooring it, but pushing down a lot more than he had been. He went through the process like normal, keeping his eyes open this time. As he shifted, he let his foot off slightly like Grim told him to. Like he said, he kept the same speed and was free to give it more gas once he shifted. When he crossed the finish line, he read the speedometer at ninety-five. 

“Wow! That was even better, I think!” Ryushiro shouted excitedly.

“It was not 14.01, but yes it was better. 15.9,” Grim told him.

Stallion chuckled and started her car. “Let’s give you a challenge, Ryushiro. Something to strive for.” She pulled up to the starting line and waited for his return. 

“Are we gonna race?!” Ryushiro asked excitedly as he returned to the starting line. 

“Yes, you against me.” She looked over at him and smiled. “Activate the Christmas Tree Grim.”

“Got it,” Grim replied as he switched on the starting light for the strip.

Ryushiro looked up at the T shaped light post with several yellow lights and a green and red light at the bottom. “Ummm, do I go on green like always? I’m not sure how that thing works.”

Grim chuckled. “Nope, you go on pink.”

Stallion giggled. “Grim!?”

“What? That was a lame question of course you go on green.” Grim replied.

“It goes yellow, yellow, yellow, green, Ryushiro. When it turns green we go.” She looked over at Grim. “Stop being a jerk he is learning just like Kitsune.”

“So what is red? Stop? Why would you stop in the middle of a drag race?”

“The red is only lit up when you first pull up to the line.” Stallion told him. 

“Oh, I see,” Ryushiro nodded. “Okay then, ready when you are.” 

“Ready,” Stallion replied.

Grim nodded and activated the tree as the first yellow light came on. Stallion revved her engine, slipping the car into first gear. The second yellow light came to life as she balanced her clutch with the gas. 

Ryushiro wasn’t sure how to rev his car, so he just kept his foot hovered over the gas, ready to gun it when the light hit green. When it reached the second yellow light, he put his hand over the gearshift. The third yellow light hit, and then a few seconds later, the green hit. He and Stallion both hit the gas. To Ryushiro’s surprise, he pulled ahead first, speeding forward faster and faster as he shifted into second. Stallion was behind him, but only slightly. However, she pulled ahead quickly. Ryushiro floored it, letting up slightly as he shifted into drive, then gunned it as hard as he could, the needle pushing ninety-eight, then ninety-nine, then one hundred. Stallion crossed the finish line way ahead of him, but he wasn’t even bummed about it. He figured she would win. In the back of his mind, he wondered what time he clocked in since he hit one hundred. 

Grim was laughing as his head shook slightly as he sat in his car. “Good time Ryushiro. You topped out better than the factory time. 14 even. Stallion…” he fell silent for a second then started to chuckled again. He knew she held back. There was no way in hell with the modifications she had on that car Ryushiro beat her off the line, but he kept his mouth shut. “Better luck next time out of the hole.” 

Ryushiro pouted. “Only a hundredth of a second?! I can spit farther than that! But at least I got to full potential for the time being.” 

“Good job, Shiro!” Kitsune smiled as she watched him from the sidelines. 

Stallion smiled warmly as she drove her car back around to where Grim was parked. “If you want to play a little longer with this Shir--Sorry... Ryushiro. Go right ahead, or we can step it up for you.”

“You can call me Shiro if you want,” Ryushiro responded. “And we can step it up. I’m comfortable with this now.” 

“Alright then,” Stallion replied starting her car once more. “Let’s get you a little more comfortable with your car.” She looked over at Grim. “You got Kit?”

“Yeah, I got her covered. Why? You going somewhere?” Grim asked.

“I was going to take Shiro over to the circle track.” Stallion replied.

“Go for it. I will stay here with Kit and help her out.”

Stallion gave him a smile turning her attention to Ryushiro. “Stop where you are Shiro. We are switching tracks.” 

“You got it!” 

“Have fun, Shiro,” Kitsune called out to him. 

“You too, Kit. Don’t give up!” 

“Good luck, Kit,” Stallion told her as they switched tracks. 

They appeared on the straightaway of an oval track with banked turns. It was a standard racing track. “Oh boy,” Ryushiro said as he looked at the turns. “Those are steep turns.” 

“Yes, they are but you will not be tackling those just yet. First I want you to get used to your car’s steering.” Stallion told him as she pulled out in front of him her car snaking a path down the straightway. “Follow the leader, Shiro, and do as I do.”

“Okay,” Ryushiro nodded as he followed the same path as Stallion. He turned back and forth, making a to and fro path with his car as he followed her. “It’s pretty easy to turn in this car. It responds pretty well. Which is more than I can say for all the console racing games I’ve played.”

Stallion looked in her rearview, watching him weave back and forth. “So it is reacting rather quickly?”

“Yeah, I think so. It lags for maybe a half-second. But it’s not too terrible. Is that the game or is it the programming of the car?” 

“Straighten it up and when we get around this corner we will pick it back up. And you can tell lag from car reaction. Lag will give it a jerky sensation where the car will just be a smooth motion.” 

“Got it.” 

They took the turn towards the center, going at a moderate speed, coming off the turn they were back on the straightaway once more. They snaked down the straight side again, Ryushiro paying even more attention to how his car handled. He also noticed that the gas was sensitive, but not too sensitive. It took about a half-inch to an inch of pressure to get it to react. The tires reacted well too. Overall it was an easy car to drive. 

“What’s next?” 

“Let’s teach you how to take a corner,” Stallion sped up, leaving him in a cloud of burning rubber. “Follow the leader, and do not get cocky and try to outrun me until I take you around the track a few times and explain what could happen if you take a corner improperly.” 

Ryushiro followed behind her closely, but not close enough to bump her. When they went around the track a few times, speeding up then slowing down when necessary, Stallion slowed down to speak to him again.

“Good, you are taking the inside corners well. Now we are going to take you a little higher on the corners. Which means a faster speed. Stay in the center lane and when you come into the corner, if you keep your speed at about a hundred, you should be fine. If you feel the car pulling you down toward the inner lane speed up. I want you to stay in the center lane. No ifs, ands, or buts.” She quickly added. “Don’t you dare make a ‘but’ comment.”

She heard him chuckle as she continued. “Keep control of the car at all times, don’t let the car control you. Because when you come out of the corner you will feel the car pull you toward the wall. Let off the accelerator slightly to keep control, but try to stay true to the given speed I told you. If you handle the first turn we will speed up and take the next corner a little higher and a little faster.” 

“Got it.” 

Ryushiro followed Stallion’s directions to the letter. He started on the inside first then sped up on the next straightaway until he was going fast enough to ride the turns dead center. When he felt the car pull down towards the inside, he pushed down on the accelerator, gripping the steering wheel to keep it in line with the center lane. When he came out of a turn, he slowed down just enough to not get thrown into the wall, then sped up again. He stayed as close as he could to one hundred, slowing down just a bit to come out of the turn and speeding up enough to stay in the center. 

“It’s like a centrifuge,” Ryushiro thought out loud. He laughed all of a sudden. “Or like those spinning things on playgrounds.” 

Stallion snickered softly. “I guess you can look at it that way. You’re fighting gravity. Ready for the next turn? We are going higher and faster.”

“Ready. How high can I go, considering my top speed is one fifty? How do I even get the car to go that fast?” 

“Give it gas,” Stallion told him, speeding ahead of him. “Keep up dragon boy.”

Ryushiro laughed at her nickname for him and hit the gas. The car sped forward. They charged towards the turn, climbing higher onto the bank. As he climbed up, he felt the car fighting gravity. He sped up to counter the force, keeping the wheel turned slightly to climb the bank to halfway between the top and the center before straightening out and keeping the speed that left him cruising there comfortably. Once they came out of the turn, he slowed down slightly then picked up speed. 

On the next turn, he climbed a little higher, speeding up faster. It was enough to give him a headrush. He was somewhere in between lightheaded and hyperaware. He couldn’t tell if it was his body’s IRL reaction to the realism of the game, or if it was his excitement and adrenaline rush. He had to compare it to flying in ALO. Only this was a lot more of an adrenaline rush. He was still flying, but this time it was on the ground, surrounded by metal and fiberglass, and floating on top of four rubber wheels. 

“This is way better than any rollercoaster!” Ryushiro called out over the headset. 

Stallion chuckled. “It’s a high better than any I know.” She bolted toward the next corner. “If you think you can handle this let’s race, but stay out of the inside lane at high speeds. It’s dangerous.”

“Let’s do it! Think I can draft you and pass you up?” Ryushiro smirked. “I did stay pretty close earlier without smacking your back end.” Suddenly he blushed and stuttered. “Th-that came out wrong.” 

Stallion laughed hardily. “You are so not like Shadow.” She laughed a little more as she started to slow as she came out of the corner. “Alright, since we are moving we are going to do what they call 55 Punch.”

“I’m guessing that  **_doesn’t_ ** mean I find some poor senior citizen and play the knockout game with them. So what  **_does_ ** it mean?”

Stallion started laughing again. “Ok, you have to stop that. I can’t be laughing and racing. It’s not safe. Anyway. Get up here beside me on my right. I will take the inside. I want you on the outside since it is somewhat safer for an inexperienced racer. Once we are side by side we get our speed up to 55 then punch it.”

“I see,” Ryushiro nodded, a serious tone coming over him as he pulled up on her right. “So it’s like drag racing but on a track instead of a strip.” 

“No, this has nothing to do with drag racing. I am just being lame and don’t want to stop and line up. We will run 10 laps and the finish line will be in the normal place. So once we pass over the starting line we start counting our laps.”

“Gotcha. Now don’t take it easy on me this time, okay?” Ryushiro looked over and smiled at her through the window quickly. 

“Pft,” she looked over at him, her cheeks flushing slightly, knowing he knew she went easy on him in the quarter-mile pass. Quickly she looked away. “I don’t know the meaning of mercy when it comes to racing.” 

“That’s okay. I’m a good loser and a gracious winner. So we both give it our best,” Ryushiro smiled. 

They stayed side by side and matched paces, getting up to and staying at 55 until they reached the starting line again. Once they crossed the starting line, they both slammed on the gas. Ryushiro slammed the pedal into the floor. He didn’t let up one bit, even though Stallion pulled ahead of him immediately. She was so much faster than him. He had thought about actually trying to draft her, but a voice in the back of his head said otherwise. But even if he wanted to, he couldn’t get up close to her enough without pushing his RPMs into the red. When he did that, he got a temporary boost of speed, but the car made a noise he didn’t like, so he backed off. 

“So much for racing,” he gave a half humored laugh as he chased her far behind, pushing one-forty. “This is less like racing and more like chasing your ghost. But at least I have an idea of the potential I can to work towards.” 

Slowing down some she let him get up behind her. “Don’t bum on me, Dragon boy. If you and Kit are up to it when we get done here I got a turbo we can stick on that machine of yours. It will up your HP and give you a little more speed. Get you doing at least 175.” 

Ryushiro chuckled. “Oh, I’m not bummed. I’m just making mental note of the reality check I just got delivered. It’s more of a goal now, really. After all, the only place to go at the bottom is up.”

“Exactly,” Stallion smiled warmly even though he could not see it. “If you want a real rush I will let you drive the Nissan to the shop when we leave here.”

“Really!? Awesome!” Ryushiro lifted one hand to pump his fist then instantly regretted it as the car swerved. He corrected himself then chuckled sheepishly. “Heh. Oops.” 

\---

“Stallion will be proud of you Kit. Not only do you finally have this, you broke your time from last night with Stallion shifting for you,” Grim commented excitedly over the headset.

“Yeah, and it only took half an hour,” Kitsune giggled. She looked at the time on the dash. “Our two hours is five minutes shy of being up. Why don’t we cut loose and get something to eat with the other two?” 

“I don’t even know if they are still on the circle track. As far as I know, they could be doing cross country racing by now.” Grim chuckled. “Let’s find out where they are.” He linked back up with Stallion and Ryushiro and called out to them.

“Hey, you two hot rods. Kit is talking food. What’s your intake?” Grim asked them.

“My intake is high and I’m starving. So yes food sounds amazing,” Stallion replied with a snicker.

“Smartass,” Grim mumbled.

“Yay! American food! I want a cheeseburger!” Ryushiro said immediately. “And the chili cheese fries Kit told me about! And a Dr. Pepper! Wait, does the game have that? Brand deals, right?”

“They have a drink called Doc Pep. It tastes the exact same,” Stallion told him. 

“Ahh, loopholes. Gotta love them,” Ryushiro laughed. “Anyway, yes, food sounds great. Especially since it’s the middle of the night for us and I should probably be asleep by now, but I’ve been roped into the infamous ‘reverse sleep schedule’ with Kit and my brother. So I got a long night ahead of me.” 

Grim smirked. “Don’t worry, Ryushiro. I have this feeling Stallion will keep you entertained.”

“Excuse you!” Stallion barked as she downshifted, the sound of her car’s engine growling as the compression changed from high to low. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Easy there Stallion you might blow a gasket,” Grim told her as he chuckled.

“Eh, heh,” Ryushiro said, scratching his cheek with a nervous laugh. “Well, racing was really fun, so if the rest of the night is half as fun, I’ll be good to go.” 

Just then, their Pods pinged and their simulations ended. Stallion opened her Pod climbing out as did Grim as she glared at him from over the top of his Pod.

“Easy Stallion,” Grim walked around his Pod with his hands raised in his defense. “I was just teasing.”

Ryushiro hopped out, wobbling and losing his balance for a moment when his legs turned to jelly. “Whoa!  **_That_ ** I was  **_not_ ** expecting. Jeez, they really upped the realism for this game.” He turned and smiled at the others. “So, where are we getting grub? That Route 66 place?” 

“It’s the best place here to eat,” Stallion turned and looked to him and Kitsune. “Unless we are looking for something more than burgers and fries.”

“More than burgers and fries?” Ryushiro blinked. “What else is there?” 

Kitsune rolled her eyes. “You and Tsuki, I swear.”

“Looks like burgers and fries then,” Grim smirked as he stepped past Stallion.

“I think Ghost is working tonight,” Stallion stated as she stepped forward looking to Kitsune and Ryushiro to follow.

They made their way out of the simulator room and took the transporter on the directory to the one closest to the restaurant. Ryushiro hummed at the instant blast of aromas he got the moment they walked through the doors. 

“Man that smells good~” He took a deep breath in. “Japanese food is great, but there’s just something satisfying about American food, no matter how bad it is for you.” 

“I can’t say I disagree,” Kitsune smiled. 

“It’s not all that bad, you just have to eat it in moderation just like anything in this world they say is not so healthy for you. Now if you live on it, yes it is bad for you. But to enjoy it once in a while you’re fine,” Stallion commented as they walked to a booth toward the back. A few people calling out to them and even Kitsune.

“Whoa! You’re popular, Kit! Is that all it takes is one race won and people love you?” Ryushiro looked around at the people greeting her. “If that’s the case, get me on the track right now.” 

The three chuckled as they took a seat at the booth. “It wasn’t just her racing. Kit is a very likable person.” Stallion informed him.

“Very true, though she can be a handful too,” Ryushiro elbowed her playfully with a smile. “That’s why she and my brother are made for each other. They’re equally as extra and tough to handle.” 

“Hey!” Kitsune pouted at him. “I’m not nearly as extra as Tsukiro!” 

“Well, not by yourself no. But you two amplify each other like waves in a pond,” Ryushiro gave her a pointed look. “Hence the reason I had to drag you both out of bed and feed you tonight before you slept the whole night and day away with nothing to eat after your little twenty-four-hour binge session.” 

Stallion and Grim looked pointedly at Kitsune. “You two had been in-game for 24 hours?”

Grim shook his head. “I can do it but I pay for it the next two days until I can get my sleeping pattern back on track.” 

Kitsune laughed sheepishly and shook her head. “Well, not in-game per se. We were awake for almost twenty-four hours. We woke up at our normal time on Sunday, then I logged into here for the first time and met you, Stallion. Meanwhile, Tsukiro was talking to another friend of ours from America. I’m not sure when he logged into Dragon Lance, but we logged out about the same time. I ate lunch, then, later on, he and I went out to dinner then came home and spent some time alone--”

Ryushiro coughed loudly. Kitsune punched him.

“And then I logged on again and met Grim. Then after that, I showed up at the garage and then you know the rest from there. We finally went to sleep after we logged out after the races and slept for eight hours before Snowball here woke us up.” 

“Snowball?” Stallion looked at Ryushiro and smiled. “I know you are not calling him that from his disposition.” 

“Well, I did say this is all-natural IRL too,” Ryushiro laughed, running his hands through his fluffy white hair. “What you see here is what you get in reality too. One hundred percent white fluff.”

“So like a white Persian cat, huh? Minus the evilness.” Grim chuckled as he picked up a menu out of habit.

Stallion reached over and took the menu from him and handed it to Kitsune. “Like you need that.” She grabbed another and handed it to Ryushiro, her attention returning to Kitsune. “I told Dragon Boy that if he wanted I had a turbo for his BMW and we could get it on today if you guys had the time.”

“Oh! That sounds great!” Kitsune nodded excitedly. “Though if you only have time for one, you should do Shiro’s first. He’ll be more ready to use it before me, even though I made a lot of progress today with Grim. I can wait on it, but I think he’s ready to race as of yesterday.” 

“Hell yeah, I am!” Ryushiro clenched the menu, almost crushing it. He released it and smoothed it out.

The group chuckled lightly, Stallion looking to Kitsune once more. “Well, Grim told me last night your suspension was a little loose. I was thinking of having Torque drag you under your car and show you how to tighten it up. You’ll have to take it out after to make sure it’s not too tight, but knowing Torque I doubt it will be.” 

“Sounds good. Turbo for Shiro and maintenance for me,” Kitsune nodded. 

Once they decided on what to order, they placed their orders on the tablet on the table and waited until their drinks came out first--a root beer for Kitsune, an orange soda for Stallion, a cola for Grim, and Ryushiro’s strawberry milkshake that he changed his mind to last minute.

“You’re lucky we won’t gain any weight from eating in VR,” Kitsune gave him a pointed smile. 

Ryushiro grinned. “Why do you think I ordered the worst possible things I could find?”

“When I sign out it will be dinner time for me. I think Mom is fixing Mexican tonight. So it don’t matter if this makes my butt bigger or not. Tonight's dinner will do that all on its own,” Stallion chuckled.

Ryushiro smirked, sipping his milkshake, then said, “Think I can fly from Japan to America in less than an hour?”

“If you find out how, bring me with you,” Kitsune laughed. 

“Air Force One can do it in six hours. I’m sure Stallion would save you a plate,” Grim smirked.

“You got your president’s number?” Ryushiro laughed. “Legally that is. Without the secret service showing up at our door.” 

Several minutes later, the food came out. Ryushiro and Kitsune each got a burger and a plate of chili cheese fries to share; Grim got a footlong Coney hotdog with all the fixings; and Stallion got chicken strips with a side of country gravy and tater tots. 

“So, do you live in LA IRL, Stallion?” Ryushiro asked. 

Stallion shook her head as she chewed on a tater tot. “I live in Florida.”

“Oh, the weird looking one,” Ryushiro smiled. He wiggled his pinkie around. “The one that looks like a weird toe… Well, Tsuki says it looks like something else, but I’m not gonna repeat that.” 

Stallion rolled her eyes. “I don’t even want to know because I got a good idea what it was he said.”

Ryushiro hummed as he bit into a chili cheese fry. Once he swallowed he continued. “I want to travel after I graduate from college. Actually, I’m thinking about doing a transfer program for a couple of semesters, but I know Tsuki would flip his lid if I did. I don’t want him to worry.” 

“Big brother needs to cut those apron strings. You’re a big boy,” Grim looked to Ryushiro and blinked. “Ain’t ya? How old are you? I know the Asian countries do that one year older than you actually are thing. So you’re what 17-18 years old?”

Ryushiro shook his head, holding the tall milkshake glass. “Only very limited numbers in Japan use the age reckoning. Nationally it’s not used. So I’m actually nineteen. In Korea, for example, I would be twenty. But regardless, I understand why Tsuki-nii is so protective. It’s because of SAO. He wouldn’t be like this if it weren’t for that game. So that’s why I don’t say anything… too much. Because I would be the same way. I am the same way sometimes.” 

Grim shook his head. “I understand that, but that’s over and in the past. He has to let go som-- SHIT STALLION!!” Grim cursed as he reached under the table and rubbed his leg.

“It’s an honor thing that Ryushiro don’t go against his elder brother. Drop it,” She growled softly at Grim.

Ryushiro smiled and reached over to pat Stallion’s hand. “It’s okay. Both of your outlooks are appreciated. To be honest, there’s not much of a hierarchy between me and Tsuki-nii, but he’s our father’s son, so he’s not afraid to assert it when it’s for our own good or when he thinks he’s protecting us. Our dad really came out in him in SAO. You wouldn’t believe it, but he was a lot calmer and collected during our time in that game. He was like a whole different person.”

Kitsune nodded slowly, lacing her fingers together. “I’ve never seen him like that. Not before and not after. He did what he had to in order to keep us safe, and he did his duty well. We love him for it, but we also know that we all took things from that game that will never completely go away. Protectiveness is one of those things.”

“For me, it just instilled an urge for adventure in everyday life too,” Ryushiro explained. “I dedicated all of my time in SAO to learning about the game to help anyone I could. Living like that made me realize that I didn’t want to be stuck in a tiny apartment my whole life. I don’t want to stay in one country or even one province. I want my real life to feel like what it does in VR, even if it won’t be exactly the same.” 

“Good goal. I don’t want to stay in one place either. I want to travel, but only if I can do it with a hot rod at my side,” Stallion said with a smile as she took a sip from her soda.

“She wants to be a pro racer, and from what Whistle says, she has a good shot at it,” Grim informed them.

Ryushiro grinned, perking up after his gloomy speech. “Then you should go for it! And when you come to Japan to race when you do make it big, I’ll be cheering you on.”

“Me too,” Kitsune smiled. 

Stallion smiled. “Thanks, guys. It would be a lot of fun to meet you IRL. I promise when I make it big and I am in your area I will send you tickets to the race. All three of you. As long as you promise to gag Shadow.”

Ryushiro and Kitsune laughed. “No promises there,” Kitsune shook her head. “He’s a beast when he’s determined.” 

“Yeah. He doesn’t pick handles like Shadow Demon and Moonshine for nothing,” Ryushiro gave a lopsided smile. “Most players in our other VRs fear him for some reason or another. If it’s not because of his blade, it’s because of his dragon.” 

“Wait a minute. Moonshine?” Grim looked at Kitsune and then Ryushiro. “Didn’t you say something about him playing Dragon Lance? Shadow that is?”

Kitsune nodded. “Yes, he’s Moonshine in Dragon Lance and ALO. It was his handle in SAO. He’s a dragon tamer. He’s traveled all over the map helping dragons. He has a Darkness Dragon named Nychta and a Light Dragon named Imera. He, as well as the two of us, just recently joined the Knights of the Mystic Dragon. They’re investigating the problems with the sensitivity glitches recently.” 

“Do you play Dragon Lance, Grim?” Ryushiro asked. 

Grim chuckled shaking his head. “No, but my little sister does. She is part of a clan called the Unseen.”

Ryushiro and Kitsune blinked and turned to look at each other with shock in their eyes. They knew Ashley only had Jeffery, and he was younger than her. So that left…

They spun their heads back to him, leaning over the table. “ _ Your sister is Nema _ ?!” The other patrons of the restaurant turned to look at them. They apologized and sat back down. 

Grim pushed back in his seat with wide eyes. “Yeah. Why? Did she do something wrong?” His head shook. “Wait a minute. There is no way she did something wrong. Celty and Creed would skin her.”

Kitsune shook her head, waving her hands. “No, no, no! Tsuki is friends with Celty’s and Creed’s players. We all are actually. There was…” She sighed, shaking her head again. “There was an incident… You must not know about it.” 

Ryushiro put his hand on Kitsune’s shoulder. “Kaori… maybe we shouldn’t…”

She shook her head and gave Ryushiro a pointed look. “No. It’s his sister. He has to know. She could have been seriously hurt IRL! We don’t even know how she’s doing right now! Hell, Tsuki told us both what happened to Eowyn! That poor boy was beaten so badly he couldn’t see straight for hours! This is the exact reason Tsuki is making us stick around in SpeedRunner instead of Dragon Lance!”

Grim looked between the two watching the two talk as his stomach did flips. “Alright, you got two seconds to spill your guts or you’re going to see how Grim Reaper I can turn.”

Kitsune held her hands out to Grim. “Just hold on. Let us explain. Recently, there have been ‘glitches’ where the sensitivity setting has been maxed out and unable to be turned down. They fixed it once, but it got turned back up. Celty thinks they know who is doing it, but there’s no solid proof yet. She’s been working with the Mystic Dragons to get proof on them and take them down, but they took Nema and beat Eowyn to get to her. They wanted to kill Celty IRL by beating her so bad in-game with the setting turned up that her body couldn’t take it, putting her in shock.”

“Kirito and Tsuki as Moonshine helped Celty free Nema and take one of their pawns into custody. We’re not sure what’s going on now. Tsuki-nii has kept us out of the loop because of what happened to Nema and Eowyn.” Ryushiro explained further. “If you want more info, you should talk to my brother. He’ll be more than willing to tell you and keep you updated. And… you should check on your sister. I’m sure after what happened, she’d be happy to hear from you or see you.” 

Grim nodded his head sternly. “Since I moved out and me and Scythe got a place together, I don’t see her as much as I would like, but after this bit of information, I will surely go check on her and make sure she has been in contact with Eowyn. The two of them have been friends since grade school.” Grim sighed as he looked down at the table. “I guess if I have to I can drive her over to see him.” He looked up at the two once more. 

“Eowyn used to live in the same town as us but they moved a couple of towns over last month.” His head shook. “I hope the boy is alright.” 

Ryushiro opened his panel and sent Grim a PM. It had a number in it. “This is my brother’s number. You can call him with the Streamline app and talk to him whenever you like. Just let him know why I gave you his number and he’ll tell you anything you want to know. I’m positive. There’s no way he would want you to be in the dark about this when it concerns your sister.” 

“Thanks,” Grim smiled gratefully at him. “I will most definitely be in contact with him.” He sighed again. “I am really worried about Eowyn now after what you said. He is an only child and his parents are more involved with their careers than their kid.” 

Kitsune nodded with a deep frown. “Tsukiro was too. As were all of us. He told us he stayed the whole night with Eowyn and two others until he woke up. He managed to get him well enough in-game so he wasn’t in so much pain IRL. Apparently, the poor boy was terrified.” 

Ryushiro sighed, shaking his head. “And this is exactly why my brother is so protective. Because of things like this.” 

“As he should be, Ryushiro. You’re his little brother, and he only gets to have one like you, but he also has to let you live your own life or you will grow up to resent him for his overprotectiveness. Loving someone is hard, but you have to know when it’s time to let go.” Grim lifted his drink and took a sip. “Sorry. It’s just what I learned from my schooling.”

“I understand,” Ryushiro nodded with a smile. “Thank you for the advice. Now could you say those exact same words to him for me?” He chuckled.

They all chuckled lightly as Grim shook his head. “I can try, but he has to be willing to listen, and if he's anything like me it takes a bat to get some things to sink in.” 

Kitsune laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “Yup, that sounds like Tsukiro.” 

They spent an hour or so at the restaurant eating and talking before Grim parted ways with them and the other three headed to the garage. As promised, Stallion let Ryushiro drive the Nissan. They sped through downtown Los Angeles and out of the city limits towards Santa Monica. It took them a fraction of the time it took going the speed limit.


	7. Chapter Seven

Once at the Thundering Horses’ garage, Kitsune and Torque set out to do suspension maintenance on the Toyota. While Ryushiro’s BMW, sat in the garage waiting to be upgraded while Ryushiro helped Stallion with the Mustang while they waited on parts. 

Ryushiro looked around the garage as he held a couple of different wrenches for Stallion. He looked at the Nissan he drove there, the very car Stallion told him he could paint. In his mind he mapped out the body of the car, imagining it in several different colors with several different decals. The car was a midnight blue color with a chrome clear coat, so it would have to be wet sanded down to get any other color to pop. The base color was easy. The decals would take some more thought. 

“Shiro…” Stallion called to him as he looked around. He did not respond right away so she called him again. “Shiroooo. Wooohooo…”

Ryushiro jolted and turned back to her. “Oh! Sorry! I was thinking. Um, which one do you need?” He held the two wrenches out as if they were lollipops or something. 

She smiled brightly and took the one in his right hand. “Thank you.” She turned back to the car. “So what were you thinking about?” 

“I was thinking about what color and decals I wanted to do for your Nissan,” Ryushiro smiled. “Do you want another chrome color, or something more matte? And are there any decals you  **_don’t_ ** want?”

Stallion hummed softly as she reached down into the motor compartment and worked on the bolt that tossed her a fit the other night. “I was thinking of changing the color. I do like it blue but it looks more purple than blue and the only purple car in my life I want is the Stang.” She lifted and looked at Ryushiro.

“What color do you think would look good on it?”

Ryushiro smiled and hummed, looking at the car once more. “Sky blue number five maybe? Or maybe a turquoise? Something brighter. And no chrome. Chrome is nice but it messes up the true color too much. It turns white into grey, which bothers me. But on brighter colors, it works better. But too bright and it just looks weird.” 

“Well, my brother wanted me to paint it cherry red,” Stallion laughed. 

Ryushiro looked over at her slowly. “In chrome, matte, or gloss?” 

“It would have had a pearl in it so it would have kinda resembled the inside of an oyster. If it were cherry red.” She giggled as she wiped off the wrench. 

“Ugh. Oysters,” Ryushiro gagged. He shuddered then shook it off. When she gave him a weird look, he laughed. “Have you seen the inside of an oyster? And I don’t mean the pearl. It’s like an alien inside there. Mussels too! Cherries though. I can do cherry. And the darker red would take well to whites and brighter colors.” He turned back to her with a smile. “I’ll think of a few different ideas.” 

“I know!” Stallion blurted out. “Make it electric blue and neon orange.” She was joking of course but the look on Ryushiro’s face was priceless, causing her to laugh hard.

Ryushiro blinked at her repeatedly before saying, “Are you sure you’re from Florida and not Colorado?”

“What does the state I am from have to do with color?” She chuckled.

Ryushiro shrugged. “You tell me. America is the one that has an unofficial holiday dedicated to a bunch of buff guys smacking their heads into each other and calling it ‘ **_foot_ ** ball’.” 

Stallion stood at the side of the car and looked at him chuckling slightly. Her hand going to her hip. “Well, they could make the pigs happy and call it Pigskin day.”

“Whatever floats their boat I guess,” Ryushiro grinned with another shrug. “But I still like the  **_real_ ** football better.” 

“You mean soccer?” 

“I mean  **_football_ ** .”

Stallion waved a hand ducking back under the hood. “Tomato tomahto. I will stick with racing.”

Ryushiro smiled. “The sport that some people don’t seem to think is a real sport.” 

“They can clarify it however they want. If I don’t like it I will just run them over with my brother's car.”

Ryushiro laughed. “Your brother’s? Don’t want to get blood and guts on your Stang?” 

“Nope,” she looked up at him with a wide smirk across her lips.

He laughed again and looked down at the rich, plum purple of the Mustang. It was a nice color. He had to remember to screenshot it and get the hex code for it. 

“Purple really is your favorite color, huh?” He said off-handedly. 

“Mhmm, fell in love with it when I was 13 when I saw it on a Barracuda. Which I will paint hot pink and black if my brother don’t pick the one I want.” 

Ryushiro smirked. “Well, if you like the color of my eyes, I can always give you the hex color for them,” he laughed. “Actually there’s a few of them, or so the website picked up. The codes, not my eyes.” 

Stallion chuckled as she stayed under the hood. “I was wondering if you were going to correct that statement.” 

Ryushiro smiled, shaking his head. “Nope. Two eyes are good enough for me.” 

Just then a male voice called out from the front of the garage. Everyone turned to see a man in a dark navy uniform wearing a matching hat and carrying a clipboard. In his arms, he carried a cardboard box with labels on it.

“I’ve got a delivery here. I got parts here for a turbocharger for a 2009 BMW Z4.” 

“There they are!” Stallion lifted up from the motor and handed Ryushiro the wrench. She ran over and signed for the package. “You can set it over there by the car. Thanks.” 

The delivery man nodded and did as she asked, taking the package over to Ryushiro’s car and setting it down on the workbench in the work area. He then exited the garage leaving in his delivery truck. Ryushiro stood next to Stallion as she took a box cutter and cut the tape sealing the seams together. 

“That didn’t take long. You didn’t have to put a rush on it, you know. I could have waited. Besides, I’m sure your Mustang needs more TLC than my BMW,” Ryushiro laughed. 

“Maybe, but I made you a promise, so that’s that,” Stallion said as she opened the box. 

Opening the box she made sure everything she ordered was in the box. They were only missing a couple of things so the order should not have been too hard for them to fill. When she was satisfied with what she saw she walked back over to the Mustang and quickly cleaned up what was drug out. She then made her way back over to Ryushiro’s car. 

“With someone that knows how to do this it's normally only about a 3 to 4-hour job, but since I am letting you do this,” She looked over at him and smiled. “Well, you have been catching on rather quickly all day, so let’s see.” 

They walked closer to the car as Stallion spoke. “The car was prepped before we ordered the parts so the bolts should breakaway rather easily, and since this car has the option from the factory to have one--even two turbos--most of what we need is already there. All we needed was the turbo and the few connections we ordered. Once it's installed Whistle said he would dial it in for you. Once all that is done it’s ready to take out for a test drive.” 

“So half the work is done. Cool,” Ryushiro smiled. He clapped and rubbed his hands together. “So, where do we start?” 

Stallion chuckled. “No. The easiest part is done.” She paused and looked at him. “The next step is busting the bolts loose and removing them. So I want you to get the tire blocks and put them behind the back tires of the car. Then get the floor jack and the jack stands. I want you to place the jack under the car, making sure the saddle makes contact with the frame of the car, and jack up the front end from the front. Make sure it is high enough to get the jack stands under it.” 

Ryushiro nodded and went to grab the floor jack, jack stands, and the tire blocks. He fit the blocks firmly against the tires to prevent the car from rolling. He placed the jack under the car’s nose. He looked under the car to make sure the jack was placed on the frame and not the body, then pumped the handle up and down until the car slowly started lifting up with the help of the jack. He jacked it up until the jack was almost fully extended from the base before looking to Stallion for confirmation. 

“Is that good, or will we need more room?” 

“That should do it,” Stallion walked over and grabbed the air hose as she let it unwind behind her. Ryushiro placed the jack stands under the car and made sure they were in the right places to keep the car up and locked them in place, then removed the jack. Stallion then told him to go get the air ratchet and the metric socket case.

Ryushiro found the wand looking wrench with a ratchet head on the end sticking out and the case with the sockets that fit onto the head. He brought it over and set it down on a bench near the car. “So we take these to the bolts, right?”

Stallion looked up seeing Ryushiro holding up the socket case. “Yes, since I am not one for foreign cars, I am not too sure what size sockets you will be needing under there. So I want you to take them all under the car with you.” 

Ryushiro nodded and sat down on the creeper then laid back, rolling under the car. When he was positioned under the exhaust he looked up at the bolt heads, sitting the size to mind he then turned to the sockets he took under the car with him. He popped one off that he thought was the right size and tried it on the bolt. When it did not fit over the bolt he snapped it back onto the bar and removed the next size of socket. He smiled when the socket slipped over the bolt and was snug against the head. Placing it on the ratchet then slipping the socket back over the bolt head, he compressed the lever on the ratchet. The wrench made the easily recognizable ‘click-vrrm’ sound as the bolt made a quick snap from it breaking loose and spun loose from the exhaust. While he worked on the bolts, Stallion walked over and slid a silver tray like pan under the car with him. It already had the bolts in it she had removed from the top of the header.

“Place all bolts, nuts, and washers in the tray. It’s magnetic so they won’t go anywhere.”

Ryushiro nodded and placed the bolts and everything else he took off in the tray. “Are there any more that need to come off before I take off these pipes?” He asked her, pointing at the exhaust pipes. 

“You’re not going to get them from under the car unless you want to completely unbolt the exhaust. Just let it rest to the floor,” Stallion told him.

Ryushiro nodded and rolled out, sitting up and looking up at her. “So what’s next?” 

“The oil pan.” She shifted back to let him get to his feet as she turned and walked over to a large deep pan with a nozzle on it. “We need to drain the oil and drop the oil pan.”

Ryushiro moved off of the creeper and stood up. “And we do that from under the car?”

“Mhmm.” She squatted down as Ryushiro followed getting beside her as they both looked under the car. “That is the oil pan plug.” She pointed at a small bolt on the side of the oil pan then lifted looking at Ryushiro. “Slide this”--she pushed the oil pan slightly under the car--“under the car’s oil pan and remove the bolt. Don’t put it directly under the oil pan because you will miss capturing the oil that will spill from the motor when you pull that plug.” She stood dusting her hand and knees. “It will take a second for all the oil to drain so you don’t have to stay under there and wait for it.”

Ryushiro grabbed a regular wrench and unscrewed the bolt and held the used oil pan up to the one on the car where the plug was, not wanting the oil to miss the pan. When the bolt started loosening, the oil started oozing out like maple syrup from a bottle. Eventually, it coated the bolt and when it came off it slipped out of his fingers and into the pan, disappearing in the used oil. 

“Oh great!” Ryushiro sighed, tilting his head down to look for it in the pan. 

“Shiro no!” Stallion shouted.

Before he realized it, he had oil in his hair and dripping onto his face. Instinctively, he dropped the pan and crawled out of the underside of the car like some sort of demon, not paying attention to where the pan ended up. Oil spilled onto the floor by the time Stallion could get the pan properly placed under the flowing oil. 

Ryushiro stood up like the ground was on fire, leaning his head over to let the oil drip off of his hair. 

“ _ FUCK _ ! NOT MY HAIR!” Ryushiro grabbed the closest clean towel, which was a dirty red rag, and dabbed at his hair. “Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT! This is the only part I hate about having stark fucking white hair!” He spun around and looked at Stallion, who had stood up from the car, with wild eyes. “How bad is it?! Is my hair black!? Or worse?!” 

“Eh,” she tried to hide a chuckle as she walked over to him and took his hand. “Let’s go to the locker room.”

She dared not look at him, afraid she would burst out in laughter.

Kitsune blinked and turned to look at the two of them as they walked past. The moment she saw Ryushiro’s hair she gasped and her jaw dropped. His hair was stained gold but with a mess of black and dark grey. It was matted and greasy like he stuck his head in a vat of cooking oil. Stallion shook her head and put a finger to her mouth. Kitsune slapped a hand over her mouth and turned away so he wouldn’t see her face. The one thing Ryushiro hated more than anything was getting his hair dirty. 

“What? What?! What’s ‘eh’?!  _ What does  _ **_eh_ ** _ mean _ ?!” Ryushiro dared not touch his hair, for fear of making it worse with his greasy hands. “Is it sticky?! Is it melting my hair off?!  _ AM I BALD?! _ ” 

They went into the locker rooms and Stallion sat him down on one of the benches. 

“Stay here while I get the shampoo and conditioner.” She went to turn then looked back at him, pointing a finger at him. “I mean it. Stay put.” She turned again and walked around the row of lockers to the other side to her own locker leaving Ryushiro there waiting for her return. 

Ryushiro blinked, his expression horrified. When Stallion was gone, he got up and rushed to the closest mirror at the end of the lockers. He stood in front of it and looked at his hair. 

An ear-piercing scream reverberated off the locker room walls. 

“ **_MY HAIR!!!!!!!!!_ ** ”

The others in the garage part froze, stopping what they were doing to turn their heads towards the locker rooms. Kitsune sighed, shaking her head as she continued helping Torque.

A heavy sigh escaped Stallion as she quickly closed her locker’s door after she retrieved the shampoo and conditioner. Walking back around to where Ryushiro was standing in front of the mirror, she looked at the poor horrified guy. “I told you to stay put. You listen like my dog. Do you know what stay means?” 

She walked over and pulled his hand down from his hair. He was nearly hyperventilating as she took him over to the bench once more and sat him back down. Leaning over she looked into his eyes. She thought he was going to start crying.

She smiled warmly at him as she reached up and touched the part of his hair that was still somewhat clean. “All part of the job here, but don’t worry I have some of the best shampoo and conditioner, and it will clean this right up.” 

Ryushiro looked at Stallion’s hair as she pulled her very long, caramel-colored ponytail around and down her shoulder and chest. He followed the length of hair with his eyes, not even noticing the heat in his cheeks when his eyes passed over her chest. She gave him a pointed but amused look that seemed to tell him she knew more than well enough what getting ‘car gunk’, as he was now calling it, in her hair. 

“Is your hair like that IRL? Or just here?” He asked, somewhat relieved that her hair looked so good considering how much of a grease monkey she was. 

“It’s just as long here as IRL.” She took his hand and tugged him to a stand. “I have to tuck it into my coveralls when I work on my car IRL and it’s a real pain. Come on…” She tugged him toward a large deep sink with a sprayer as the faucet. It sat toward the back part of the locker room, just before you entered the shower room. “I had this installed just for these occasions.”

“This conditioner is gonna put back what the shampoo strips, right? Cause this has to be some harsh shampoo to get car gunk out of hair,” he sighed as he sat down on the chair that was in front of the sink. 

“You tell me”--Stallion grabbed her ponytail and wrapped it around his shoulders and neck--“rub your cheek on that. It’s like rubbing the silk border of a blanket on your cheek.”

Ryushiro’s face went scarlet as her hair brushed his face. Her hair smelled like jasmine tea with no sugar. Fragrant but not sickeningly so. He went to touch her hair but then realized that his hands still had motor oil and dirt on them. He lowered his hands to his lap, his palms facing up. 

“Th-that’s really soft,” he stammered, looking in the mirror and focusing on the mess in his hair. He frowned and whined as he looked it over again. “Please get it out. I don’t want this staining. I know it’s a VR but still.” 

“It won’t,” she let her hair slip from around him as she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Lean forward over the sink so I can wash it.” He did as she asked as she adjusted the temperature then reached for a towel and draped it over his shoulders. “Do you like a lot of conditioner in your hair or just enough to make it silky smooth?” She asked him as she wet his head to apply the shampoo.

“Just enough to make it smooth and soft. Any more than that and it just feels greasy, which is the opposite of what we’re going for right now.” 

Stallion nodded with a hum to let him know she understood his wishes as she lathered the shampoo in his hair. It lifted all the oil and dirt turning the shampoo gray. She could hear Ryushiro making sounds of disgust as he watched it wash down the drain. She rinsed it until the water ran clear and then shampooed his hair again.

“Why do cars have to be so dirty,” he sighed. “And my car doesn’t even have a hundred miles on it yet.” 

“Well, the oil you got on you was rather clean. New oil is a golden color with hues of amber and green. Now the rag you used.” She held back a chuckle as she scrubbed his scalp to make sure it was clean as well. “That was downright black grease.”

“Ughhh, don’t even tell me. I don’t want to know,” Ryushiro groaned. “I’m wearing a shower cap when I work on my car from now on. No way is this happening again.”

Stallion could not help but let out a chuckle. “They have them. I used them a few times but, my hair is too long and heavy so it just pulls out of it.” She rinsed his hair again until the water ran clear then applied the conditioner. She massaged it in at the ends and let it coat the rest. After she made sure his hair was well conditioned she rinsed it out.

“You have really pretty hair. It’s astonishing and admirable that you love cars so much and aren’t afraid to get dirty, and yet here I am--a guy that can’t even stand a little dirt in his hair,” Ryushiro pouted, a little ashamed of himself. 

Stallion smiled as she tossed the towel over his head and started to dry the water out of his hair. “No worse than my brother with his cotton blond hair, but he doesn’t care if it gets dirty. He knows it will wash out.” She leaned over, putting her face right in front of his, and lifted the towel. His eyes widen when he saw her. 

“My dad says it builds character.” She leaned in quickly and kissed the tip of his nose then stood quickly dropping the towel on his shoulder. “All clean and snow-white again.” She patted his shoulder softly before she grabbed the shampoo and conditioner bottles to put them away.

Ryushiro’s face grew hot, his mouth popping open in surprise. He wasn’t expecting it, but he wasn’t unwelcome to it either. He wasn’t sure why she did it, but he wasn’t going to sit and stew over it either. 

“Uh… Thanks,” he said absentmindedly. He turned and looked in the mirror to see his hair was indeed back to the way it was supposed to be. He smiled widely. “Wow! That’s incredible! I admit I had my doubts.” He stood up and washed his hands in the sink until they were grease and grime free. Once his hands were clean, he ran them through his hair. “Ooohhh. That’s almost as soft as my hair IRL.” 

“Glad you approve,” Stallion called out from over at her locker. She walked back around and looked at him as he admired himself in the mirror. She chuckled lightly her hands going to her hips. “When you’re done admiring your good looks we got a car to finish.”

Ryushiro smiled sheepishly at her. “Hey, my vanity is well-founded. I should show you a picture of our mother. Everything I got, I got from her.” He followed her out of the locker room. “Her hair is even longer than yours. She almost has to keep it in a basket.” 

“Wow! That’s a little too long with the career I am in. I am almost to the point of cutting mine off.” 

“No! Don’t! I like your hair.” Now that his hands were clean, he ran his fingers through her ponytail. “You can always do those cute donut buns girls always do.” 

Stallion blinked as she looked on at him. “You mean the hairdo that makes you look like you have balls on either side of your head?”

Ryushiro blinked back at her. “You mean the Leia buns? Nooo! I mean a… a… what’s it called. It’s one bun on the back of your head and you roll it outwards, but you have to use a--A SOCK BUN! That’s what it is. A sock bun.” 

“OOO,” Stallion’s head bobbed in understanding. “That would be  **_one big bun_ ** !” She giggled.

“Pfft!” Ryushiro laughed, shaking his head. “So long as it’s on your head and not on your butt. God made cracks for a reason.” 

Stallion burst out in laughter getting Ryushiro to laugh a little more himself. Settling some she reached over to him, giving his shirt a small tug. “Come on… I think I have a few of those caps left. You can have them so to use them to cover your hair when you’re working on a car.”

“That would be greatly appreciated.” 

Four and a half hours later, nearly five, Ryushiro and Stallion had finished installing the turbo on his BMW Z4. They had stepped back to let Whistle dial in the turbo so they could take it for a spin. As Stallion’s brother did his part she ran off to the office to get her and Ryushiro a drink. Torque and Kitsune had been out for about an hour checking out the work they had done on the suspension of Kitsune’s car. 

When Stallion came back she had a root beer and an orange soda. Ryushiro took his root beer, thanking her, and popped the cap on the bottle. He smiled at her after taking a drink. 

“So if your favorite color is purple, why is orange your favorite and not grape?” 

“I like grape soda, but it tastes like crap in-game. So I drink the orange,” Stallion told him with a smile as she lifted her bottle in a toast. 

Ryushiro lifted his as well. “What are we toasting to?”

“Your first job well done,” Stallion told him tapping her bottle lightly to the side of his.

Ryushiro laughed, shaking his head. “How do you know it was well done? We haven’t tested it yet. It could blow up on us.” 

Stallion shook her head with a chuckle as she lowered her bottle after taking a sip. “If that were so the Diagnostic Sun Machine would have told Whistle. Which in turn Whistle would have already put a wrench in your hand and told you to fix it.”

“Yep,” came from Whistle as he typed away on the keyboard of the machine.

“Wow. Okay. And it only took me five hours and a hair disaster,” Ryushiro smirked. He raised his bottle again. “Kanpai!” 

Stallion and Whistle looked to Ryushiro. “Kanpo? Is that anything like the Kittyo Katness Kit did with us the other day?” Whistle asked with a confused look. “All this Japanese is confusing me.”

Ryushiro laughed, holding his stomach. He shook his head. “Kanpo? No no. Kitto kattsu is for good luck, as I’m sure she told you. Kan **_pai_ ** is Japanese for cheers.” 

“Ahh, then Kanpie,” Whistle replied lifting the keyboard about his head like he was doing a cheer.

Stallion giggled shaking her head as Whistle almost gave himself whiplash looking back their way. “What. The Hell. Was that?” He gave a pointed look to his sister.

“What? I laughed. It’s not like--”

“No. No, you did not laugh. You giggled. The last time I heard you giggle, you were 3.” Whistle confessed.

Ryushiro blinked in confusion. “Stallion doesn’t giggle? I thought all girls giggled.” 

Whistle set the keyboard down and walked toward her. Stopping in front of her, he lowered himself down and looked into her eyes. “Say AH!”

Stallion shoved him back slightly with a huff. “Go away. I am not sick.”

“You sure?” Whistle placed the back of his hand to her forehead. “You feel a little warm.”

Ryushiro hummed, tapping his finger to his chin. “Well, she did kiss me on the nose, so maybe she  **_did_ ** get sick?” 

For a second, what Ryushiro said went over Whistles head as he replied. “Are you sick? That would be-- SHE WHAT?!”

“She… Uh…” Ryushiro blinked as Whistle glared at him. He smiled tightly and tossed his half-finished root beer in the nearby trash bin. “Boy that soda was really good. I’m gonna go get another one.” He jumped up and ran towards the direction Stallion came from with the sodas.

Whistle let the boy go as he turned his attention back to his sister. Suddenly his hand came up and pointed in the direction Ryushiro took off. “Did you kiss him?”

“No. I gave him a peck on the tip of his nose. What’s wrong with that?” Stallion asked.

Whistle stood his full height as he towered over her looking down at her. His serious look then changed to a wide smile. “It’s about time you start showing interest in a guy. I was starting to worry about you.” He turned and walked back toward the car.

“What!? That’s all you’re going to say after scaring the crap out of poor Shiro!?”

Whistle shrugged as he picked up the keyboard once more. “At least he will know I mean business when it comes to you. He will now stop and think before he does anything when you’re involved.”

“Gee thanks. I will be lucky to get my first kiss from him after that display,” Stallion grumbled.

“If he really likes you, I will be the furthest thing from his mind when he kisses you. He had just better keep his hands where they belong,” Whistle told her as he went back to work.

“Oh yeah? And where might that be?”

“To himself,” Whistle said not looking her way.

Stallion huffed and spun on her heels as she went after Ryushiro in the office to apologize for her bully of a brother.

Ryushiro stood in front of the vending machine, looking at all the choices. He really didn’t want another soda, considering he’d drink half to compensate for his lost half and then just throw it away. He sighed, turning to look out the office window to see if Whistle was still out talking to Stallion when the door opened and Stallion herself walked through. He jumped and gasped, holding his chest and leaning on the desk. 

“You scared the crap out of me!” 

“Sorry,” Stallion told him as she closed the door behind her. “I came in to apologize for my bully of a brother. He can be a real pain sometimes.” She looked shyly to the floor.

Ryushiro smiled sheepishly, scruffing the back of his hair and shoving his other hand into his pants pocket. “Nah, it’s okay. I opened my mouth when I should have known better. After all, I know what brothers are like. I should have known something small like that would have bothered him. It’s my fault.”

Stallion looked up at him. “It’s none of his business what I do. As long as I am not doing something danger--” She quickly paused and giggled again. “Ok, I take that back. I do something dangerous every day and he encourages me. I give a guy a small kiss on the tip of his nose and it’s the end of the world.” 

Ryushiro laughed and nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yup. Sounds like a brother to me.” He blinked and went over to the window, ducking down so he was mostly hidden by the wooden part. He peeked over at his car. “Still… Is he gone?”

Stallion shook her head. “No, he is finishing up on the car, and he is not going to hurt you. He is just trying to make you think he will. If he touches you I will kick his butt, and I will get away with it. Because if he raises a hand to me Daddy will kick his butt.”

Ryushiro laughed, shaking his head. “Well, it worked, so I think I will stay right here until he’s done,” he plopped down on the floor in front of the wooden part of the wall. He bent his legs and hugged them to his chest, smiling up at her. “No butt-kicking necessary.” 

Stallion smiled and reached out to him. “You don’t have to sit on the floor. There are chairs.”

“But the chairs are window height,” he blinked. 

“Do you think he don’t know you’re in here?” Stallion chuckled. “And trust me if he wanted to hurt you he would have followed you in here from the get-go. That’s just the way my brother is.”

He blinked, thinking for a second, then nodded and stood up. “You’re right. The car is much safer. At least then I have a getaway plan. Let’s go.” 

Stallion looked at him and blinked. “But your car is still being programmed. What car are you thinking of taking?” 

“Um… good point.” Ryushiro sighed. “Maybe I can learn how to become invisible between here and there. Or I could paint myself in chameleon paint and blend in.” 

Stallion chuckled shaking her head. “I think your blender is broken. And stop freaking out. He is not going to come after you. If there is one thing I know it is my brother and you are the least of his problems. Not to mention”--her tone dropped some--“it’s only me showing interest in this case.” 

Ryushiro looked at her, his hand on the doorknob. He thought for a minute before it clicked. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the thought. She was very pretty, and if her Avi was any indication, she was also very pretty IRL. Though he wasn’t sure what his feelings towards her were. After all, they hadn’t known each other for even a day. This wasn’t like his brother and Kaori. They always knew and there was never any doubt. He didn’t have that luxury here. 

Regardless, he turned and smiled warmly at her. “Well, I think it’s good to express your interests and be proud of them. Cause no one can tell you or make you think or feel any different. And if anyone has a problem with your interests”--he opened the door for her--“then your interest just has to be louder than their disapproval.” 

Stallion stepped toward him as she walked out the door of the office. “Most guys don’t like me. If they are into cars or not. The ones that are into cars don’t like the fact that I know more about cars than they do, and the ones that are not into cars are intimidated by me because I am Tomboyish.”

She shrugged as she looked back at him as he stepped up beside her. “So you would not be the first boy I liked and got shot down. So don’t feel bad or obligated if you don’t return my feelings.” She shrugged again. “It’s the norm for me.”

Stallion’s words cut through him like a hot knife. He couldn’t remember ever feeling such guilt. Without really thinking, he grabbed the back of her shirt when she went to walk away. 

“Hey,” Ryushiro said softly to her, carefully dragging her back. He turned her to face him and lifted her chin up with his fingers so she was looking him in the eyes. “If guys are intimidated by you or feel emasculated by your knowledge of cars, then that’s their problem. Their weak ass sense of security in their masculinity is not your problem. And if you weren’t a tomboy, then you wouldn’t be you.” 

He smiled warmly at her once more. “As for me, if that sounded and felt like rejection, then I’m sorry. I’m not always as blunt as my brother, so let me take a page from his book this time.” He grimaced and shook his head. “Without the bad jokes. Anyway, what I should have said was that today was mostly spent being excited over the game for me. I wasn’t thinking about connections with people. I was thinking about the game. The racing. The speed. I’m sure you can empathize with that, right?” 

“I understand and I did not mean to make you feel guilty about what I said. It’s just a fact of my life. I just did not want you to feel bad about anything.” She smiled warmly at him. “Friends with you would be just as wonderful. So please don’t think I am expecting anything. The only thing I expect something from in my life are from my cars, and that is because I control them, and I always expect the best from myself.”

Ryushiro grinned and poked her nose. “I didn’t say I didn’t feel the same way about you. I just don’t know yet. I’m probably pushing twenty-four hours myself now, and I just met you. I have no idea what I feel right now. We’ve been talking cars for the past who knows how many hours. But I meant what I said. You should be loud about your interests, and that includes me.” 

He thought for a moment before smiling at her once again. “Let’s do this. After I log out and sleep for about ten hours straight, I’ll log back in and we can spend the whole day doing things besides talking about and working on cars. No cars or racing the entire day. Just me and you. You liked me from the moment you saw me because this game is nothing new to you, so tomorrow, let’s just get to know each other. Deal?”

Stallion nodded. “Deal, but we might have an issue with finding something around here that don’t involve cars.” She informed him as she chuckled lightly.

“True,” Ryushiro put a hand to his chin. He thought for a long moment before smirking with a devious grin. “Well then… we’ll play another game…” 

“Another game? Like what. I am not much good at anything other than racing,” she giggled.

Ryushiro smiled and leaned forward and down slightly to look her in the eyes. Their noses were an inch apart. “I’m not much good at anything other than RPGs and art and writing, but you still managed to teach me how to shift and install a turbocharger in half a day. So consider your vacation from cars making us even.” 

Stallion smiled and nodded her head slowly. “Alright, so what game do I need to download when I sign off?”

“It’s called ALfheim Online. And since this is a date, I’ll be paying for the game. No negotiations,” he told her, wagging his finger at her. He opened his panel and sent her a PM with his number. “If you have a PayPal account, I can transfer you the money for it. My English is sketchy still, so if you want to understand a word I say, I suggest calling me while one of us is in-game.” 

“And I know very little Japanese so that will have to be the thing until one of us learns the other’s language. And I do have a PayPal so I will send you the information. Though I feel bad about you paying for a game for me,” Stallion confessed.

Ryushiro shook his head. “Don’t feel bad. I want to. Also...” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, rubbing the top of her head. “I’m sorry I made you feel bad. I didn’t mean to upset you or make you feel like I didn’t value your feelings. I’m flattered, really. Usually, I’m just ‘the best friend every girl can talk to’.”

“No, no, no. You did not make me feel bad,” She told him looking up into his eyes. “The thought of how my love life works bummed me out.” She giggled softly. “But like I said it’s a fact I have grown used to. Don’t feel bad for me. I have gotten a lot of good guy friends I have crushes on.” She laughed softly. “And of course grown out of because I found out they were a real pain in the butt.”

Ryushiro laughed, shaking his head. “Well, you shouldn’t be used to that. You are beautiful inside and out, and you deserve to be happy with someone that likes you for who you are and respects the things you like. Besides, isn’t dating the way you get to know someone? If people rejected others because they didn’t feel some sort of way at first, there would be a lot less humans in the world.” 

“Agreed,” Stallion smiled but before she could continue her thought Whistle called out to the two of them.

“Car’s done. You can take it out if you want but watch for cops. High Roller just called and told me they were out looking for an Impound Breaker,” Whistle informed them.

Stallion nodded as she turned back to Ryushiro with a wide smile. “So you want to take it out for a test run?”

“Let’s go! No point in wasting all our efforts.” Ryushiro grabbed her hand and ran off in the direction of the car, excited to see how fast it could go after all their hard work. 


	8. Chapter Eight

It was evening once more in Japan. Ryushiro sat in his room at the dorms on campus. His roommate was gone with family for the summer, so he had the whole place to himself. He had his laptop open, his AmuSphere next to it, and his phone out with the PayPal app open. He entered Stallion's number into the send money page, and up popped her account, including her real name: Rain Anderson. 

He smiled at her name. He liked her real name much better than her username. It suited her well. He entered the amount he wanted to send, having already figured out the USD amount for the price of the game plus tax. He entered the equivalent in Yen and hit the accept and send button. Once he got the confirmation page, he opened the messenger app on his phone and typed in her number on a text message. 

He appreciated emojis even more now than he did before. Even though Rain couldn’t understand Japanese writing, emojis were universal, so he sent her the flying stack of money emoji, a thumbs-up emoji, and a smiley face emoji. Once he sent the text, he sat his phone down and loaded up ALfheim Online for the first time in a while. Soon after, he received a text from her that had a thumbs-up emoji and the words ‘See you soon’ in English. Thankfully he knew enough English to understand that simple phrase. He opened the English keyboard on his phone and sent ‘you too’.

He placed his phone on the nightstand and placed his laptop over to the side on the bed, next to the wall. He placed the AmuSphere on his head and laid down.

“Link start.” 

Okamishiro spawned in where he had last saved in ALfheim Online, which was his apartment in Alne City. It was nighttime in Alfheim, of course, since it was also night in Japan. It was a strange sensation to not be stepping into the opposite time of day for once. He had gotten so used to playing American games. 

He wasn’t sure which avi Rain would pick, but he had two really good guesses--an Imp or a Leprechaun. It all depended on whether she wanted to stick with purple colors, or if she wanted to pick an avi that suited her personality more. Depending on which she picked would decide which territory he headed to in order to find her. 

And so he waited. He roamed around Alne, waiting for her to message him once she got her avi and logged on. He couldn’t wait to see what her avatar looked like, considering you didn’t get to choose what your avatar looked like unless you paid for the feature. Regardless of which race she picked, he knew she would look beautiful. 

Okamishiro sat on a bench in the market district of Alne City, pondering everything he had done in the past twenty-four hours. He had thought long and hard after he woke up and came to the conclusion that he would be either blind or stupid to not be attracted to Rain. She was beautiful, strong-willed, very intelligent, and loyal to her friends. She was a little similar to his brother in some ways, but without the ‘extraness’ that Tsukiro always presented himself with. He really did feel bad that he didn’t feel what she did at first. He didn’t want to reject her just because it wasn’t ‘crush at first sight’ for him. He wasn’t _not_ interested in her, but he couldn’t say without a shadow of a doubt that he was absolutely interested in her. He was hoping that some time away from the distractions of SpeedRunner Online would make things clearer for him. He wanted to learn about Rain herself--about her personality and what made her who she was besides her love for cars. 

He was positive some time in ALO would accomplish that. 

Eventually, he received a message from the username ‘Faelyn’. He smiled and stood up from his bench as he read the message. 

I made it! I can’t believe how easy it was to make an Avi compared to SRO. So where are you and what do you look like? I am not seeing anyone with white hair around here and there are so many people...or well fairies.

Lol, I am in Alne City, the territory in the center of the map. In ALO, you spawn into the capital of your race you chose. I can come look for you, but I need to know which race you picked. 

Leprechaun. I have long hair. Not as long as SRO, and it’s periwinkle and my attire is periwinkle and a light gray, nearly silver. I am standing by a huge fountain in a town square. 

Cool. That means you’re in Varstad, the capital of the Leprechaun territory. I’ll be there soon. This game has transport stones in the town squares that allow you to teleport around the map without spending hours or days of game time on traveling. If you’re by a fountain, that means the stone will be close by. Look for a huge, blue crystal stone that sits on a small platform and wait there. I’ll have mint green hair instead of white. I’m a Sylph, the forest faeries.

I think I see it. I will see you there. I am excited to see what you look like here. Please don’t laugh when you see me. I think I look silly with these ears...lol.

Lol, nooo! I’m sure you look really adorable with elf ears~ Keke. See you in a couple minutes.

Okamishiro closed his panel and made his way to the closest transport stones in Alne City--the only city that had multiple--and selected Varstad from the menu. In seconds he was gone. 

\---

As Rain, now Faelyn, stepped up to the local transport stone in the town it started to glow a brilliant soft color of silver. As the light faded a cute little fairy with mint green hair and green and white attire appeared standing on the platform. She became excited as she smiled warmly and picked up her pace moving quickly toward him.

“Shiro?!” She stopped in her path, covering her mouth as she looked around to see if anyone was looking their way. Her cheeks flushing slightly. 

Okamishiro smiled brightly at her, his smile becoming wider when he saw how cute she looked. “Yup, it’s me~ No purple eyes though, sorry. ALO is one of few games that isn’t very accommodating to my actual hair and eye color.” He looked her up and down as he moved closer to her. “You look very cute. Fairy suits you well.” 

She giggled softly, her cheeks turning a brighter shade of pink. “Thank you, you still look really cute. I am starting to think any Avi would look good on you.” She looked away shyly.

Okamishiro laughed. “It’s like that with my brother and Kit too. But thank you.” He reached out for her hand with a smile. “Well, where should we explore first? There’s a lot to do in ALO. We can explore your home territory first, or we can go to Alne City, which is neutral territory.” 

He looked to the west and up into the sky, a few hundred miles away from the Yggdrasil. He pointed at the large, arrowhead-shaped, gold glowing structure that was New Aincrad. “Or… we could go there.” 

Faelyn looked in the direction Okamishiro was pointing as she looked at the large structure. “What is that? It looks huge even from this distance.”

“That’s Aincrad. Well, New Aincrad. The old data adapted for ALO’s servers and gameplay. All one hundred floors of it. All the quests plus new ones. It’s… kind of haunting, but also very awe-inspiring too.” Okamishiro stared at it with a grim look. “It’s crazy… two years in SAO and a lot of the vets still play in that castle. Us three included. After two years, it becomes home, no matter how insane it was.” 

A cold chill ran up her spine at the thought of what it was, but an excitement overcame her as well. She looked over at him with a blank look on her face. “Does it make me morbid to want to see the place that made VR history?” She looked back out at the huge floating form in the sky. “I mean I want to see it. Then on the other hand,” her eyes started to sting as tears formed for the ones that were lost in that mess. “I am afraid my emotions might get the best of me if we go there. What happened was so unfair and so wrong.” 

Okamishiro gave her a soft, consoling smile. He pulled her into a tight hug, pulling her head to his shoulder. “That doesn’t make you morbid. It makes you human. And it’s okay to be afraid. Aincrad has become a sort of horror-thriller for some, even though that’s not what it is. There are even horror lovers that like to play out like they’re stuck in the game, but mostly they’re young kids who don’t know better. But it can’t hurt you. Not anymore. And I think keeping it around isn’t disgraceful to the dead, I think of it as a monument for all we fought for.” 

He looked down at her, rubbing her back. “We don’t have to go there if you don’t want to, but if you do, that’s okay too. That’s what it’s there for.” 

“I would love to see it.” She looked up at him with a warm smile. “It was your home for a while and I heard it was actually rather beautiful, but…” She looked back out at it. “Maybe we can work our way towards it slowly?” She looked back to Okamishiro. 

Okamishiro nodded with a smile. “Sounds good to me. Meanwhile, we can look around here in Varstad for a bit before we head outside the city. Then I can teach you to fly.” 

Her eyes grew wide with a fearful look on her face as she pushed back from his embrace slightly. “Fly?! The only flying I have ever done is in a plane or my car. Please tell me you are talking about flying in something contained. I mean I know we are fairies, but I did not think we could fly.” 

“Of course! That’s the main attraction of ALO. It’s the first game to use real flying mechanics,” Okamishiro grinned. “And don’t worry, you’ll catch on quick enough. If you love adrenaline, you’ll love flying.” 

He took her hand and pulled her off in a random direction. “Let’s find some shops and restaurants. Those are always the first things you want to find in any RPG game. Shops for armor, weapons, clothing, and potions. Restaurants for food of course. And the last but certainly not least, inns. Just like hotels in SRO, inns allow you to log out safely. Just like SRO, you can buy a house or apartment in towns, but you’re limited to your own territory and Alne City. So I wouldn’t be able to get an apartment here in Varstad, and you wouldn’t be able to get one in Swilvane.”

He waved his right hand. “Unlike SRO, you open your panel with your left index finger by swiping top to bottom, like this.” He demonstrated it for her. “It’s pretty basic, like most menu layouts.” 

“Yeah, I had to ask one of the people here how to open it. It was a little kid playing next to the fountain. I think they were an NPC because after I asked they started saying something about if you need help to click something or another,” Faelyn told him with a chuckle. 

Okamishiro laughed. “Yeah, the NPCs can be pretty helpful, though DL is still superior in terms of AI. The help they were talking about was the help option on your settings menu. If you tap it, you can talk to a Game Master if you have questions or concerns. Also, you should have fifteen thousand Yrd to start with, which is a good amount if you want to buy weapons, spells, and armor to boost your abilities right from the start. Most inns cost fifty Yrd per night or three hundred to five hundred for a week. Apartment rent prices vary depending on the city, district, and size. Same for houses.” 

“So does all this apply for New Aincrad as well, or is that a different set of rules? And do you have to learn how to fight in this game or can you just hang out?” She asked.

“New Aincrad was adapted to fit ALO, so yes. Things work the same. As for fighting, it depends on whether you’re in Alfheim or New Aincrad. It’s a lot easier to just chill and explore in New Aincrad. It’s simple to just treat it like a second life. After all, that’s how a lot of players spent their time in SAO. Me, Tsuki, and Kaori included. Tsukiro refused to let us fight on the front lines, so our fighting abilities were put to use for self-defense and we only grind when we really needed money or resources. But the thing is, you can get a job or even open your own business in both New Aincrad and Alfheim. Tsuki has two restaurants. One in New Aincrad where he originally wanted it, and one in Alne City here in Alfheim. Your level of skill with fighting depends on how strong you want to be, what kind of player you want to be, and what you want to do with your skills and abilities.”

They walked together through Varstad until they reached an area that was heavily populated with stores and taverns. He smiled down at Faelyn. “We can find someplace to eat and I can explain more to you before we go out and explore for real.” 

She nodded her head slowly trying to take everything in. This was so different to her, she had never been in a game that was fairy tale like. SpeedRunner Online was her first and only VR. Some of her RL friends tried to get her to play other types of games with them, but she stayed in her comfort zone. Racing or adrenaline pumping games. Though she had to admit the set up of this game was very pretty. It reminded her of a Disney movie, colorful, but not bright, overwhelming colors. They were soft, warm, and cool colors, very earthy and gentle. And the whole idea of fighting was not something she looked forward to. She was not someone that knew how to use a gun, knife, and most definitely not a sword. She would be afraid she would cut off her leg, or worse. Someone else’s. 

She looked over at Okamishiro as they slowed to a stop. “What does grinding mean?”

He could see she was nervous and a bit overwhelmed. A rush of worry filled him. He held her hand and smiled calmly at her. “It’s when you go out and spend time doing quests, dungeons, or clearing areas that have monsters.”

“Monsters?!”

“Eh…” Okamishiro made a face that was somewhere in between a smile and a grimace. “Without sugar coating it, yes. And sometimes it’s scary, but it’s easier if you think of it like a first-person console game. Only here, you’re doing all the work yourself, not pushing buttons. But not all monsters are terrifying and scary. Some are actually quite hilarious. And not all quests are about beating something. Some have you help NPCs or things like that.” 

He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “But don’t worry. You’re with me, so you’ll be safe. I’ll protect you.” 

Her head nodded slowly then shook. “Now I know why I never played games like this.” She giggled lightly as she looked around. “But I am willing to learn how this works. Slowly!” She expressed firmly as she looked back at Okamishiro with a warm smile. She paused for a second, her eyes looking at the many shops around them. “So let’s get a bite to eat and you can explain this place a little more to me and we can pick up in what my next step would be to make it in the game.”

He chuckled and nodded. “Sounds good to me.” 

They walked around for a bit before they decided on a quiet cafe, not unlike his brother’s, though it was a little more like a teahouse. They sat down and ordered drinks and sandwiches from the NPC waitress. While they waited for their drinks and food, Okamishiro reached over the table and took Faelyn’s hands. 

“Before I go too much deeper into this game, I want to explain something else first.” He gave her a consoling smile. “I didn’t bring you here with the intention of turning you into a hardcore RPG fan. I didn’t even plan for us to do any dungeons or fighting at all. I wanted to bring you here so that we could take the racing out of the equation and get to know each other better. We can’t do that if you’re learning how to fight any more than we could if we were working on the BMW or the Mustang,” he laughed. “So, even though it sounds counter-intuitive, I think going to New Aincrad for our date is the best option. And I’ll explain why by explaining a bit about both games.” 

After the waitress brought them their drinks--a green tea latte for Okamishiro and a hot spiced tea with honey for Faelyn--he continued. 

“The premise of ALO is that the races are competing to gain an audience with the fairy king, Oberon. Whichever race reaches him first becomes Alfs. Beyond that, it’s kind of sketchy, but it’s important to know because then you’ll know why the races fight each other so much. It’s like Airbender.” He chuckled at his own analogy. “Some races get along better, some worse. But in ALO, it’s more common for players to attack each other cause that’s how the story works. But in New Aincrad, the races don’t matter because there’s no territory or prize to fight over. It’s one hundred levels, each harder than the last. It’s a completion game, not a competition game. And if you can’t handle one level, you can just go a level down. It’s a lot more novice-friendly than ALO, and there is much more to do that doesn’t involve fighting in New Aincrad.” 

He reached into his inventory and pulled out a book. It was titled ‘The Weapons and Warfare of New Aincrad’.” He was listed as the author. “This for example. This is a book I wrote in the game. My style of playing is less focused on fighting and more focused on exploring and learning. I like learning everything I can about a game. New Aincrad has countless libraries and bookstores and places to just hang out and live. There are numerous attractions that don’t involve monsters or fighting. You can do anything you want in Aincrad. That’s what made it so appealing. Dragon Lance is similar. If you took all of the floors of Aincrad and laid them out flat then added dragons, you’d get something similar to DL. It’s why my brother loves it so much.” 

He looked back up at Faelyn with a smile. “If you don’t want to fight, you don’t have to. But that doesn’t stop you from enjoying the game either. There are plenty of ways to play it. None of which are wrong. Hell, you can even fish in Aincrad.” He laughed like it was the most ridiculous thing ever.

Faelyn smiled warmly at him in understanding. “Alright then, so today we will just relax and hang out. Then maybe another day I can come visit and you can teach me what I need to know to play this game. That way we can play together.” 

“I’d love that,” Okamishiro smiled happily, tilting his head at her. After their food arrived, they moved away from gameplay and talked about each other. “So your name is Rain? I love that even more than Stallion. In Japanese, rain is ‘ame.’ It’s a popular name if you turn it into ‘Ameko.’” 

“That’s pretty. My mom and dad were having a Hippy moment when I was born.” Shiro chuckled as she continued. “No no I am just kidding. It was raining the day I was born and they had not found a name for me yet so they went with Rain, Rain Storm Anderson. So what does Shiro mean? I know Ryu means dragon.” Faelyn smiled across the table at him.

Okamishiro laughed sheepishly. “Well… It means white. My name means ‘white dragon’. Technically both me and my brother are named after both of our parents. Our father’s name is Dainosuke. It doesn’t mean much, but ‘dai’ means ‘great’. Our mother’s name is Aoitsuki, which means ‘blue moon’. Like I said before, her hair is white. Dragons are highly revered in Asian culture, hence the connection between ‘dai’ and ‘ryu’. Tsukiro got ‘moon’ of course, which is also connected to our father because he always wears black, and the night sky always makes the moon look most beautiful. And I got ‘white’. It’s kind of convoluted but…” He laughed again. 

“That’s really neat... and really sweet that you two were named after them, and it’s a lot cooler than the way they use names in the states. I swear some people need their heads examined with what they name their kids, or the hypocorism for some names is right out stupid. Where they got Dick out of Richard is far beyond me, or Bob out of Robert. Wouldn’t you call them Bert or Rob?”

Okamishiro laughed, shaking his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. It’s like they just mixed up letters and added ones that weren’t there to begin with.” He bit into his sandwich and washed it down with his latte. “So do you actually like the rain, or do you hate it?”

“I like the rain. It’s calming and it makes everything smell good and it washes the world clean,” Faelyn smiled as she took a sip of her drink. “Do you like the rain?”

“Hey,” Okamishiro laughed. “That’s a double meaning.” He gave her a playful smile, putting his chin on his hands. “But the answer is yes. Rain is Mother Nature’s way of washing away all the bad things we do to her. But sometimes even the rain can get corrupted. But even so, the rain always wins in the end and ends up pure again.” 

He reached out and patted her hand. “And I like spending time with you. You’re fun to be around. And when I logged out yesterday and after I woke up, I found myself wanting to see you. Not the games. Not SpeedRunner or ALO or New Aincrad. I was excited to see you. And I want to spend more time with you, just the two of us. That would make me very happy.” 

Faelyn’s smile grew as her cheeks warmed. “I was excited to see you again too. I have to say this is the first time in a very long time I woke up not thinking about my car.” 

Okamishiro’s smile turned ten times brighter with a look of pride. He sat up straight in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, imagine that. I got Stallion to forget her car for a few hours.” 

Faelyn’s cheeks turned bright red as she looked down at her food as she mumbled softly. “More than a few hours.”

“That’s fine with me,” he grinned. His expression grew a little more serious. “To be honest, I’ve never even had a real girlfriend. In middle school, all the girls who liked me liked me because they thought I looked interesting. But when they got to know me, they thought I was boring. And then, well, Aincrad happened. And then after that I was stuck playing catch-up with everyone else in the special school that was founded for SAO survivors. And when I wasn’t playing catch-up I was going through physical therapy and getting my body to not reject food I hadn’t had for two years.” 

He sighed and gave her a soft smile. “So, you’re the first girl that’s shown genuine interest in me, and this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to pursue something real. So it doesn’t bother me to start from square one or two with my feelings. That just means I can enjoy the journey more.” 

She smiled at him brightly. “So we are both starting at the bottom.” That made her feel a little more at ease as she looked across the table at him. “So you have never had a real girlfriend?”

He shook his head, taking a sip of his latte. “No. And I dared not have a significant other in Aincrad. Relationships in that game were mostly treated like you were dating or marrying someone with a terminal illness. Chances of survival were slim. Some viewed death as inevitable. So I just kept my nose in books and tried to live as happily and comfortably as I could. Though the recovery was admittedly just as bad as the game. Sometimes worse.”

“So you were not scared that you would never love or be loved when you were stuck in there?” Faelyn asked him.

He nodded. “I was. I was depressed off and on when I thought too hard about the outside world, so my coping mechanism was… just don’t think about the outside world. I had my brother and Kaori. That’s all I needed. I tried to just make the game my life like so many others did. Sometimes I forgot there was a real world. Sometimes I even forgot what my parents looked like. My friends outside of the game. And when I was finally free, I went through so many therapy sessions to get my mindset back to the way it was, I lost count long ago. It was… like that movie Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio. You can’t tell what’s real and what’s not.” 

“Wow, I am sure that was very hard.” She reached over and patted his hand that rested on the table. “I know this sounds weird or maybe cold, but I am glad you had your brother and Kit there with you.” 

He laughed genuinely, squeezing her hand. “You and me both. I’m not sure I would have made it if it were just me. I would have had a mental breakdown. I can’t tell you how many people just ended it when they couldn’t handle it anymore. On the other side, I would have been equally miserable to watch the both of them rot away in a hospital room, not knowing when or if they’ll wake up. And thank God our parents and Kaori’s didn’t turn the headset off.”

His smile faded for a moment before widening again. “But right now, most of all, I’m glad that I got to meet you. I very easily couldn’t have had the opportunity, but I’m glad I did. I’m glad I’m not in the game anymore, and I’m glad that I can see the real world in a different way as a result.”

“Do you find that you let yourself experience things in a different way?” When he gave her an odd look she elaborated. “Like before Aincrad if you would not normally do something or you would but you would hold back. Do you find you go all out like ‘Hey! You only live once’.” 

“Yes, but not recklessly,” he chuckled. “I like the mantra, but I don’t support it being an excuse for dumb and reckless behavior. I believe that it means not being afraid to try new things and not letting fear or doubt hold you back. Not ‘hey let’s go get blackout drunk and drive my dad’s sports car down the highway at a hundred miles an hour because YOLO’.”

“Yeah no,” her head shook. “That’s just stupidity, not living life to the fullest.”

“Agreed,” he nodded. He gave her a bright smile. “But away from the depressing stuff. What do you do for fun IRL besides cars? And no, you’re not allowed to say ‘more cars’.” He laughed. 

“Well, I work at a high-performance auto parts shop. They actually sponsor me and my car in the bracket racing I do IRL. But when I am not racing I am watching Anime or doing graphic design.” Faelyn told him. “I do like to write. I have a blog called ‘Rain’s Way’, I post my poems and short stories I write on the blog.” 

“Awww, now I really need to get better at English,” he chuckled. “I would love to try and read some anyway, even if I can’t understand it completely. I’ll definitely look it up when I log out.” He finished his latte and sandwich, setting aside the cup and plate. “What anime are you into?”

Faelyn chuckled as she took the last bite of her sandwich. “It would be smarter to ask what I am not into.”

“Ahh, one of those,” he smirked. “Okay, list your top 5 worst anime, then at least I’ll know what isn’t your type.” 

Lifting her hand she counted down the first 5 that came to mind as she pulled one finger down for each one named off. “Boku No Pico, School Days, Eiken, Diabolik Lovers and Mars of Destruction. There are more, but those are the first 5 that came to mind.”

“Yeah, those are like bottom rung anime. Especially the first two. I wouldn’t even call them anime really. More like abominations,” he shuddered. “I’d have to say my top worst ones are anything mecha, anything magical girl, and anything with the word Dragonball. Even though that’s way more than five by themselves.” He laughed. “Do you write fanfic?”

“Have a couple I did, but I was not pleased with them so they never made it to my blog page,” Faelyn admitted. 

Okamishiro nodded with a hum. “Fanfic is hard. Everyone has an opinion, but the worst critic is ourselves. Especially when we’re writing for a series we really love. A series I love that I can’t seem to get right is Ouran High School Host Club. It always ends up way too lame and too forced. The characters seem so two-dimensional, but they’re really not when you get into it.” 

Faelyn chuckled with wide eyes. “You like Ouran, really? Most guys can’t stand it.” Her chuckling continued. “I would love to sit around and have an Anime marathon with you one day.” 

“I would love that too. Especially when a lot of VRs let you watch videos from the internet or apps. Not to mention we can watch them in our respective languages and still understand both the show and each other,” he nodded with a smile. “Maybe we should make that our next date?” 

Faelyn’s head nodded quickly. “We can do it here at your place or my place in SRO. Have you ever seen DN Angel? I love it. It’s one of my favorites.”

“I haven’t, but I need to,” he pouted. “Also, I like watching anime in both the original Japanese and the English dub. It really helps with my English. Maybe it could help you with Japanese? It’s great for common phrases and things like that. And either place is fine with me. Whichever you’re more comfortable in.” 

“Anime is where I learned what little Japanese I do know.” She smiled brightly. “I want to learn more. I was thinking of taking a class, but between RL and VR I can’t seem to find a place to fit it in.”

Okamishiro gave a humorless chuckle, rubbing his temples. “I’m in the same boat with college and VRs. Though since it’s summer now, I’ll have a lot more time for things. If I can stay out of VRs long enough, which will not happen anytime soon now that I have you to spend time with. Definitely a plus and not a minus though.” He gave a real laugh this time. 

“So what other types of VR’s do you play? I keep hearing you guys talk about the one. DL, Dragon Lance, right? Does it really have dragons? Like dragons you can interact with or are you just a Knight and go around slaying the majestic beasts?”

Okamishiro’s eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. “Oh no no no! You don’t kill the dragons. The game is about saving them. You protect them from NPCs and other players that kill and poach them. You can even have them as companions. My brother has two dragon companions. He’s also a sort of veterinarian for them. He’s pretty much an expert on the facts. The Knights in this game are meant to protect them. It’s not like a Knight saves the princess from the fearsome dragon type game. It’s revolutionary in its own right. I wouldn’t suggest us logging into it right now, but once all the dust from the glitches settles, I think you’d definitely like it. Especially when you have a five-story dragon protecting you.” 

“Wow! Really? Now I think I might like a game like that. I always thought dragons were really cool.” She smiled warmly at Okamishiro. “Maybe that’s why I find you so fascinating.” 

Okamishiro laughed, slapping the table. “Actually, my hair kinda looks like Imera, my brother’s Light Dragon. She’s very fuzzy and fluffy. She’s got down feathers all over her. I love cuddling with her. She’s so soft. Like a baby animal.” He grinned. “And then you have the huge beast Nychta, my brother’s Darkness Dragon. Imagine Red-Eyes Black Dragon from Yu-Gi-Oh only 3D and all up in your face with Joey’s personality.” 

Faelyn chuckled, taking another sip of her drink, finishing it off. “So they are like a pet IRL. They have a personality all their own even though they are NPCs.” Her head tilted to one side. “They are NPCs, right?”

“Yes, they’re NPCs. As for personality…” He sighed, shaking his head with a smile. “Nychta shoved his head through a set of glass doors in a castle ballroom the other day because he wanted attention, so I guess that says it all. He’s like a puppy. A very huge, very dangerous, and deadly puppy with demon red eyes.” 

She giggled softly. “So you get really huge pets, but I am sure even being playful like Nychta there are the really stern ones that don’t approve of foolishness and gobble you up in a single chomp.” 

Okamishiro’s eyes widened as he stared off into space somewhere random. “Musashi… And Thieron… They’re just… terrifying.” 

Faelyn blinked. “I am sure with names like Musashi and Thieron. I mean one is an accomplished swordsman, philosopher, writer, and rōnin, and the other name in Greek is 'hunter' and untamed.”

“Yeah, they’re very noble dragons. They both have a sort of aristocrat or royal demeanor to them,” he nodded. “The guild we’re part of has eleven dragons including the ones I’ve told you about. They’re just like people. All different personalities and types. Especially when it comes down to their masters.” 

“You will have to show me around there when things settle like you said,” Faelyn commented. She laced her fingers and rested her elbows on the table and her chin to her laced fingers. “So I know you like to paint, but what is it you like to paint?” 

“Anything and everything. Landscapes, portraits, still life, Bob Ross. You name it, I’ve done it. Even nudes, which you cannot tell my brother or Kit about,” he laughed, his face turning pink. “They would skin me alive. They think I’m way too innocent for that kind of stuff. But honestly, art makes no exceptions. If someone has thought of it, it has been done.” 

Faelyn sat up when he said nudes, she then chuckled lightly. “I think I would be too embarrassed to paint a nude or even be painted nude. Either that or I would be laughing too hard.” She giggled in embarrassment. “And don’t worry your secret's safe with me.” 

“I think you’d be stunning in a nude painting. And especially in charcoal and pencil. People get too prudish about nudes, I think. They think they’re a bad thing when we’ve been doing them in paintings and statues for thousands and thousands of years. I mean, look at all the Greek and Roman and even Egyptian sculptures and artwork. And long before that, ancient peoples made fertility statuettes out of stone. In art classes, it’s one of the first things you learn when doing portraits and realism. Instead of people viewing them as taboo, I would like to see people viewing them as admirable and praiseworthy.”

He leaned his chin on his hand with a soft smile. “Anything can be turned into art. If it evokes emotion--any emotion--then the artist has accomplished their goal.”

“Well, I never said they were not beautiful pieces of work, and I don’t think they are not noteworthy. I just don’t think I could be a model for someone. I am too self-conscious about my body, and I would be afraid they would see what I see,” Faelyn explained. “But thank you for the compliment. That was very sweet of you, but what you see now is computer generated not the real thing. I am a twig IRL.” 

“Sorry, I was just artist rambling,” he laughed. He tilted his head at her with a slight smirk. “And I’m sure you’re just as gorgeous IRL, if not more so. And being a nude model is as much about trust as it is about art. You have to make sure you can trust the person your modeling for.” 

Her head bobbed as she looked around the cafe. “Can we go for a walk? My legs are getting stiff from not moving.” In reality, she just wanted to get out of the cafe. It seemed like too many were listening in on what they were saying.

“Of course,” Okamishiro smiled. Having already paid for the order, he stood and held his hand out to Faelyn. “Where to next?” 

“I think I will let you lead the way since you know all the points of interest around here.”

As Faelyn took his hand and stood up, he held her hand and they walked towards the door. “Then let’s go back to the transport stone and head to Alne City. We can get closer to New Aincrad and I can teach you to fly so we can go there. And don’t worry. We’ll stay within the first two or three floors. Those will be the safest for you.” 

She nodded as they walked out of the cafe hand in hand. “So now for the simpler things.” She looked over to him as he held the door for her and she stepped out, Okamishiro following out behind her. “What’s your favorite food and drink, and your favorite color?”

“Anything with noodles, regardless of which country it’s from; definitely specialty coffee; and definitely white because you can turn it into anything you want. You can put anything on it and it will pop. It’s the perfect color.” He smiled down at her. “How about you?” 

“Onion rings, iced tea and if you don’t know my favorite color, then I should not be here.” The two chuckled lightly as they walked down the sidewalk together.

“Okay, then I’ll ask what is your favorite shade of purple? And no you can’t say the purple of your car or all of them.” 

“Plum Crazy purple is my favorite. I like the color silver, and I like the shade black.” She looked at him with raised brows. “See,” she pointed playfully at him. “I know my color names.”

Okamishiro laughed and poked her nose. “Actually, I’m an oddball artist that doesn’t care what you call white and black. I think it’s dumb to not consider them their own colors too. Sure, they’re a shade and a tone, but they’re also used by themselves, which to me makes them a color. They just happen to be the two colors you get before you split white into all the other colors, and then when you mix all those colors back together. And they just so happen to be the two colors you mix with others to get other colors.” 

She giggled softly tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear as a soft breeze blew past them. “So do you have a favorite animal?” She looked over to him and grinned. “A real animal not a mythological one.”

“Well, all three of us are cat people actually. Tsukiro is into panthers and leopards. Kaori is more of a housecat person. As for me, I like any cat. As long as they have soft paws and an independent attitude,” he laughed at himself. “Though I love Bengal house cats. It’s like having a mini tiger in your house.” 

“Aww, cats are cool, but I am more into spiders. The big furry kind. I want to get a Red Kneed Mexican, but my mom says ‘no way in hell’.”

Okamishiro laughed, shaking his head. Eventually, he stopped laughing, blinked, then looked at her wide-eyed. “Oh… OH, you’re serious?! Oh God, I hate spiders. I hate fighting spiders in VRs. The more legs the worse. And FURR? What spider needs freaking FURR? It’s not a kitten or a puppy or… or anything else that’s cute and fuzzy. It’s a SPIDER. They exist purely to terrorize people.” 

Faelyn was laughing so hard at Okamishiro’s reaction that she snorted. She quickly released his hand as both her hands clamped over her mouth and nose causing both her and him to laugh together. Once they calmed, she shook her head. “Spiders are cute. Did you know they have paws like a cat or a dog?”

Okamishiro turned pale as he looked at her. “I don’t think you understand the definition of paws. Nor cute. Spiders are terrible, terrible creatures. Snakes I can handle. Lizards I can handle. Hell, even gross frogs are tolerable. But spiders? No fucking way. I hate them. No animal… THING needs that many eyes. Even flies have two eyes.” 

“I have a frog. A leopard frog to be exact. He lives in a 55 gallon tank me and my brother set up for him. He is really cool. When I get him out to play with him, if I put him down he will hop around and follow me,” Faelyn told him.

“Yuck,” he shuddered. “Still better than spiders, but still yuck.” 

She patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I still like the soft fluffy animals too. I just have an issue with cleaning up fur off of everything they want to lay on or rub on. We do have a dog. A big black lab. He is as about as smart as a box of rocks.” Her head shook. “I take that back, a box of rocks is smarter.” 

“Well, even the animal kingdom has its fair share of dummies,” Okamishiro laughed. “What would be your dream vacation?”

“I would love to go to the mountains, rent a small cottage and watch the snowfall around me, and get so deep it comes up to my neck.” She chuckled when he gave her a drawn back look. “I am kidding but the deeper the better. Go out and sit with a blanket and a fire pit burning warmly nearby. As you watch the snowfall and the moon reflect off it as it glistens like thousands of diamonds tossed across the land.” 

Okamishiro smiled blissfully as he pictured her vacation. Then it hit him. She was from Florida. “Rain… have you ever seen snow? Besides on TV or pictures?”

“Never. I have been told about it and like you said pictures and TV, but never have I actually seen it, or played in it. Or watched it fall silently to the world as it covers it in a blanket of white.” She dazed off picturing it in her mind.

His mouth popped open as he tried to imagine not ever experiencing snow. He loved it so much, he couldn’t bear to think of not knowing what it actually looked like or felt like. He smiled brightly down at her. “Then I know what my dream vacation is. I want to take you to Hokkaido in the winter. We have to go there when we meet IRL.” 

Faelyn looked at him wide-eyed. “Hokkaido? That’s in Japan.” Her head shook as she laughed softly and looked to the ground as they walked. “That’s a lot of money.” She fell silent then quickly looked back at him. “If things go right, I could have the money in time for the winter season in Japan.” 

He shook his head with a smile. “I won’t make you do it by yourself. We’ll figure it out. Even if it takes us a long time. I want to see you in person, not just in VR.” 

“Well, the racing season will end in the middle of October, and if I run this year like I did last year this season is in the bag. I have to put half of everything I win into savings. Mom and Dad’s rules. The other half I am allowed to spend. And if the winnings are anything like last year it will pay for the trip and a week’s stay, plus food and any extras I might want to buy or do while I am there, and if it don’t I can always fall back on my paycheck.”

He blinked at her then gave a tight smile, scratching his head. “I think I picked the wrong career…” 

She giggled softly. “So what do you do? Other than going to college, and what are you majoring in?”

“Art and design, mostly for video games. And currently… nothing. Our settlement money is enough to last us several more years, but our families make sure we spend it wisely. It’s more money than you can count and we’re only allowed to spend so much. I’m fine with being regulated, but Tsuki and Kaori make money other ways to supplement their spending.” He hummed to himself as he thought, then smiled at her. “I might be able to get my dad to let me have some of it for a trip to Hokkaido. And depending on how long you want to stay in Japan and how much you want to see, we can take a ten hour trip from Tokyo to Hokkaido and it would be about three hundred in US dollars. Time and price not including the ferry trip across the water.” 

“That sounds like fun. I would love to see your country, and maybe one day you could come to see my side of the world.” She smiled warmly. 

Okamishiro smiled back, watching her for a long moment before replying with a nod. “I would love that.”

They continued on towards the town square hand in hand.


	9. Chapter Nine

As they entered the center of town where Faelyn spawned in, they passed the fountain as the transport crystal came into sight. Faelyn then turned to Okamishiro and smiled as she looked at him. “Well, it’s settled then.”

Okamishiro nodded as they stopped near the transport crystal. “Agreed.” He paused for a second and took her face in his hands. Quickly, he leaned forward and kissed her, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away. He smiled down at her. “Let’s make it happen.”

Faelyn swallowed hard as she looked at him. She was totally taken aback by the kiss, but in a good way. A wide smile crossed her lips as her head nodded slowly. “I definitely have to learn how to speak Japanese now,” she said at a near whisper. “You going to be my study buddy?”

“Of course, so long as you help me with my English,” he smirked.

He leaned in to kiss her again. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t sure what came over him or made him do it. It was obvious. He liked her back just as much. Maybe even more. Time away from distractions did more than just clear things up for him. It grew what was probably already there without him realizing it. So much so the thought of leaving the VR to go back to the real world where she was on the other side of the planet killed him. If he could stay with her all the time, he’d gladly live in a VR again.

After pulling away for the second time, he smiled again. “I really do like you. I can say that without a doubt now. Today has shown me that, even though the day isn’t over yet.”

Faelyn smiled brightly as she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. “It’s going to be hard to leave you when the days over.” She pulled back and looked at him. “Is there an App out there that translates text?” He shrugged. “There has to be a way we can talk out of game.” She hummed in thought as her eyes lowered from his.

“Well, I’m sure there’s a lot of great apps that do that and do voice translation. We can find one and use it over Discord or Skype. That way we can do more than text,” he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Kirito is good at that sort of stuff so maybe he knows of one.”

She looked back up at him and nodded with a smile. Suddenly, the transport crystal came to life as someone walked out of it. She looked back at Okamishiro. “Should we go? The day is still young.”

He nodded and kissed her cheek. “Absolutely.”

They headed through the transport crystal, heading to Alne City for Faelyn’s first flying lessons before heading to New Aincrad.

\---

It was about forty-five minutes later when Okamishiro and Faelyn landed in front of the entrance to New Aincrad. The entrance was a transportation gate that allowed you to enter any floor of New Aincrad so long as it had been unlocked. They entered the first floor, selecting the Town of Beginning’s from the menu. They appeared right in the center, in the central plaza.

Okamishiro held Faelyn’s hand as he looked around. “This is it. This is where it all started.” He looked towards the south side of the plaza where the gate that led to the nearby park and pond. “The three of us were standing over there, close to the south gate.”

Faelyn looked around the square taking it all in. It was hard to believe this was the beginning of the end for some of the people that got trapped in the SAO VR. She could not even imagine how scared everyone was. It made her tremble just thinking about it, her head shook. “I don’t think I could have done what you did.” 

He nodded slowly as they walked across the plaza towards the south side gate. “Most people couldn’t. Those that couldn’t either waited for it to be over or ended it of their own accord. Thankfully New Aincrad is a place where everyone can enjoy SAO as it should have been enjoyed, absence of fear.”

Faelyn nodded. “So where does this take us?” She asked as they walked across the plaza.

“There’s a very beautiful park a bit outside the gate. Then we can go to the market and do some shopping. They have a lot of great clothing shops. Also I was thinking about buying some produce and ingredients and showing you the cooking feature in the game. I have a small home here in town,” Okamishiro told her as they continued walking.

“So you have two homes in the game?” She looked over at him in bewilderment.

“Of course. Most players keep several houses or apartments. One in their territory, one in Alne, and several in New Aincrad. Multiple homes is almost a necessity in Aincrad because of all the floors and areas. Some choose to rent so they can vacate ones they don’t need anymore, and some choose to purchase so they can sell or rent out to other players for extra Cor… Well, Yrd now. It’s especially important to have someplace to stay on the higher levels where the monsters and bosses are much harder. It also helps if you have so much stuff it fills your inventory and your home’s storage max.”

“So it’s really more of a spawning and storage issue for most?” She questioned as she looked around.

“Yes, that’s the main features. Though some just like the different styles and interior design options. Some like to purchase tons of houses, then rent them out while they stay in the inns. You can make a crap ton of money that way if you play your cards right. Also, houses are useful for guilds if the guild is small enough or the house is big enough. Also, the higher up you go, the more expensive the houses are, and usually the bigger. I haven’t been any further up than level eighty yet, so I’m not sure what some of the expensive towns look like or cost. But I heard they are very beautiful and very expensive. Castles, mansions, villas and things like that. So luxury could also be a factor for some players.”

“So I am taking guilds are like the teams in SRO?” Faelyn asked.

“Yes, essentially. You do quests together, collect drops together, and you get tons of perks and buffs and boons that you normally wouldn’t get if you go lone wolf like Kirito,” Okamishiro laughed. “There are many different types of guilds, not just fighting guilds. There are merchant guilds, art guilds, publishing guilds, blacksmith guilds. You name it, you can make a guild for it. Also…” He smirked at her playfully. “You can get married too. And when you get married you share inventory with your partner. Which means if you die--virtually, not for real anymore--your partner gets your inventory drops instead of whoever killed you or whoever happened to be near you when your inventory drops. To get the items you would have dropped, the other spouse has to be killed as well. Same for guild members who fight as a team.”

“Well that is nice. It’s nice to know your partner will get your things if you die. Because when you respawn you can just get your things back from the person that is holding them for you.” Faelyn chuckled. “I am sure that upsets a few people thinking they have hit the jackpot in killing a high level player to find out they were married or grouped up with another.”

“Oh definitely. Actually, the very first thing my brother and Kaori did when we found out we were trapped in the game was get married. There’s a church in every single village, no matter how small. All you have to do really is find a church, pay the fee, and poof. Though you can go all out with a ceremony if you want. Some do, some don’t. Some marry for practical reasons, and some just because they like the feeling. It’s almost like a dating game that way, to be honest. Though there are some couples that are together IRL--like Tsukiro and Kaori--who treat it like the real thing. They sure did. They even treat it that way IRL, even though they’re not actually married.”

Faelyn smiled warmly as her head tilted to one side a dreamy look crossing her face. “They are a cute couple and they work together so well. It’s like when you first see them, even if you don’t know them or they’re not acting like a couple. You just know.” She looked over to Okamishiro and smiled brightly. “They’re a couple.” She looked out across the plaza again as they drew closer to the South gate. “It’s weird how that works, but people like them just put off that type of energy about them. I am sure they live everyday as it comes, too.”

She looked back over to him. “What about you? If you had a special someone in your life. How would you live it with them?”

Okamishiro laughed. He bumped her with his hip. “What do you mean if? As for you and me, I would go to each and every one of your races. Maybe I would get into painting and decaling cars for a living. Designing paint jobs. Things like that. And when the racing season is over we’d travel the world. Spend each holiday in a different country.”

Faelyn giggled. “Like Christmas in Christmas, Colorado and Halloween in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Summer in Hell, Minnesota, Valentine’s in Romance, Missouri and Easter at Easter Island?”

He laughed again, shaking his head. “I said a different country, not a different state, though we can do that too.” He smiled softly. “But really, I would be happy no matter what so long as we’re spending time together.”

She giggled looking to the ground then back to him. “Would you really follow me around the country or even the world to watch me race?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? It’s what you love, and I would want to support you in that endeavor. Besides, you already know I want to travel the world. Following you everywhere to watch you race would be the icing on the cake.”

Several minutes later, they had reached the park down the way from the plaza. It was decently large and divided into two halves. Each half had part of the pond and was divided by a weaving walkway in the middle with a medium sized greenhouse. The park had tons of flowerbeds and several benches. It was a nice place for a picnic or a small party. The grassy areas were dotted with some trees. But more so, the night sky was reflected beautifully in the water with the moon waving on the surface.

They walked along the path that split the pond in half, admiring the scenery. After a while of looking at the water and the water lilies floating on top, Okamishiro turned and smiled at her. He pulled his wings out and stepped closer to the water’s edge. He opened his panel and took off his boots from the equipment screen.

“Take out your wings and take off your shoes.”

Faelyn looked at him with a slight tilt of her head. “Hmm.” Okamishiro only smiled so she opened her panel did as he asked, taking off her shoes then pulled out her wings. Still wondering what he was up to.

“Follow me. Do what I do.”

He stepped backwards so one foot was hovering over the water, then gave a little hop and started flapping his wings just enough so he was hovering over the water with his toes barely grazing the water. He hovered back just a bit then held his hand out to Faelyn with a smile.

“Now you try.”

Her eyes widened as she looked down at the water. She just learned how to fly, would she have that much control over her flight to hover like this? She looked back up at Okamishiro his eyes telling her, ‘I am here. I won’t let you fall’. She slipped her hand into his looking back at the water as he slid his fingertips under her chin and gently lifted her head so she was looking at him.

“Keep your eyes on me.”

She did as he said and stepped out on the water, her wings starting to flutter behind her. A wide smile crossed her lips. “Alright, you have me out here. Now what?”

He smiled and put one of her hands on his shoulder as he held the other. He wrapped his free arm around her waist. “Now we dance.” He spun them around slowly at first, then a little faster, their toes grazing the water, making trails on the surface. They moved around the pond in circles but without going past the edge of the pond.

Her heart raced and her head spun, the thought of sinking into the water long past as she giggled and smiled as they danced across the smooth surface of the water. It was almost as if they were dancing atop a thin piece of mirror. It was so beautiful as the beauty of the night sky reflected off the water setting the scene of twinkling stars and a crescent moon shining under their feet as the water lilies danced along with them. 

Okamishiro glanced up to look at the time on the clocktower in the distance. He looked back into her eyes with a smile. “The fireflies should be out here in a minute. They always become active in the game at this time.”

As if on cue, several seconds later, dozens of tiny yellow lights appeared around the park, flashing in and out every couple seconds. They danced around the park just like they did. Some of them landed in their hair, blinking a few times before darting off somewhere else.

Faelyn giggled softly looking up into Okamishiro’s eyes. “It’s beautiful here. This is a VR I could get lost in for weeks and not have a second thought about life outside of this.”

Okamishiro nodded, his eyes going far off for a moment, like he was looking at her but didn’t see her. “I think he made it that way on purpose… Akihiko Kaiyaba. He would have made it hideous or scary if he didn’t want people to fall for his tricks. This was his life’s work, and he wanted to create his own world. He accomplished that, and somehow, despite the death game aspect, it still remained incredibly beautiful. Right up until that last day.”

He looked up at the sky, seeing past it to the next level above them. “That day, my brother had the money to open his cafe on the fifty-seventh floor. It had been pretty much two years to the day, and by that point, I don’t think we cared about the outside world anymore. We were just living. So in a way, our world was almost just as broken coming out as it was going in.”

“I’m sure, those are big changes for the mind to adjust to in the blink of an eye,” Faelyn replied.

“It was,” he nodded. “And once we had recovered, we joined ALO. We had started to enjoy VRs again… and then suddenly Aincrad was back. And not just Aincrad. Multiple new VRs got created. Dragon Lance, Gun Gale, SpeedRunner, and so many others. Then it wasn’t just about Aincrad. We could live in any world we wanted to. So VRs kind of saved us multiple times. And now they’ve led me to you.”

She blushed softly looking away from him. “I never thought I would fall for someone in SRO”--she looked back at him--“but here I am.” She smiled brightly. “And I don’t regret it a bit nor am I second guessing it.”

He leaned in and kissed her softly. “Me neither.” Suddenly he grinned mischievously. “Also, the next best thing about dancing on water?” His smirk grew wider and suddenly he stopped them in midair. “The splashdown.”

Before she had the opportunity to respond, he grabbed a hold of her and stopped his wings, making them dive bomb into the pond.

Faelyn came up gasping for air and laughing as she looked around for Okamishiro, when he came up she splashed him numerous times. “I can’t believe you!” She chuckled as she splashed him.

He laughed, splashing her back. “Oh, come on. I had to do it. It was so easy. Too easy.”

He laughed some more and pulled her to him, swimming back to the edge of the pond. They climbed out and Okamishiro pulled out a spellbook from his inventory. He opened it to a page somewhere near the middle and recited words from a spell. Suddenly they were surrounded by a warm, red glow that grew brighter and brighter. When it faded, they were both completely dry.

“There. Now we won’t freeze as we walk through the market.”

She smacked him playfully as he caught her wrist and pulled her into him. “I will get you back for that. You just wait.” She told him wrapping her arms around him. Giving his lips a peck she looked into his eyes and spoke softly.

“And there will be no magic spell to save you after.”

“Oh? I look forward to seeing how you plan to pull that one off,” he grinned, kissing her back. Once they made their way out of the park and towards the market, he spoke again. “Some stalls are open late at night, especially the well lit ones. There’s definitely a difference in products offered during the different times of day. So it benefits everyone to check them out at all times of day depending on what you’re looking for.”

Faelyn nodded as she looked around them, paying attention to what was around them just in case she was ever in the game alone. She did not want to get lost, but in all honesty she would not mind getting lost or even setting up a place to live so she could have someplace to come relax. She looked over at Okamishiro and smiled warmly as he led them down the street. As long as she could share it all with Shiro.

“So, what kind of food do you want to eat? It’s easier if you start with a protein rather than a type of dish, though there are a lot of common staple dishes in this game like stews, sandwiches, roasts, and whatnot.” He smiled at her as they continued walking. “What are you hungry for? Maybe something light or a dessert since we ate not that long ago?”

As he spoke, they walked into the beginning of the market area. It was very well lit with strings of bulb lights and light posts. It was somewhat crowded, but not enough to be constantly bumping into people. Each vendor sold something different.

“Well…” She looked around. “What’s good, and I am still kinda full form earlier so maybe a dessert would be best.” She reached over and picked up a peach and sniffed it as her eyes closed and a delightful look washed over her face. “Mmm, that smells so sweet.”

“Try smelling it on high sensitivity settings. That’s a headrush. Thankfully the food here all smells natural instead of like chemicals. I definitely suggest visiting an orchard on one of the more rural floors and turning your setting up. But not too much otherwise it’ll be too much of a sensory overload,” he told her as he looked at the fruit from the vendor she picked up the peach from. “This vendor always has the best, ripest fruit. It’s great with anything and everything.”

“Thank you sir!” The NPC--a middle aged man with brown hair streaked with grey--reacted to his words. He smiled kindly at the two of them. “Is there anything in particular you’re looking for today?”

Faelyn looked to the old man and smiled. “Something to make a sweet--but not too sweet--dessert with.”

“I see. Our fruits are perfect in any sort of pie or tart,” the old man explained. “If you’re looking to make a pie, I definitely suggest our honeycrisp apples or our peaches that you saw. Our berries make delicious cobblers. Or if you’re looking for a cake, our strawberries are perfect for strawberry shortcake.”

When the old man mentioned strawberry shortcake, Faelyn quickly looked to Okamishiro with a ‘YES!’ expression on her face.

Okamishiro laughed and turned to the man. “We’ll take one kilo of strawberries.” When Faelyn blinked at him in surprise, he chuckled. “That’s two pounds in America’s system. Actually 2.2, but close enough.” He turned back to the old man. “Also, we’ll take a kilo of apples too. Half honeycrisp and half green.”

“Of course!” The vendor weighted out, placing them in paper bags. He set the bags on the small checkout table. “That will be one hundred and fifty Yrd, please.”

A purchase screen popped up and Okamishiro hit the purchase button. The screen disappeared and the paper bags faded away, replaced by a notification that the items were added to his inventory.

“Thank you and come again!”

The two of them moved on through the market as Okamishiro looked through his inventory and the recipe for strawberry shortcake. “I can’t remember what I have at my home on this level, so we will need to pick up a few more things. Sugar, flour, butter, cream, and some vanilla bean pods.”

Faelyn giggled. “Are we making the shortcake too?”

“Yup. Most of everything here is from scratch if you’re cooking. Don’t worry, it’s insanely easy. It makes me feel like a celebrity chef IRL. Though Tsuki hates it cause he feels dumb IRL cause he can’t cook to save his life.” He laughed hysterically, shaking his head. “Whatever you do, when you meet my brother IRL, do not ask him to make ramen for you. Instant or otherwise.”

“That much of a disaster?” Faelyn chuckled as she took his hand in hers.

“That dumbass put too much chili powder in his ramen, so what does he do? He puts sugar in it instead of just dumping it and starting over. It was the most awful thing I’ve ever tasted. Then he burnt the hard boiled eggs. He’d literally die if he lived by himself.”

Faelyn shook her head with a slight smile. “Poor Shadow. Good thing he has Kit then.”

“Story of his life,” he laughed. “To be honest though, I think he could be a really good cook if someone just taught him some culinary common sense, but Kaori and I lost the patience for teaching him long ago.”

They stopped next to a grain vendor next and picked up a bag of flour. Next was the dairy stand where they bought cream and butter. Then they stopped by the herbs and spices stand.

As Okamishiro looked around for what he needed, Faelyn stepped over to one of the areas and took in a few of the many scents at the vendor's stand. Suddenly she reached for a metal scoop and scooped up a bit of a finely ground red spice. Before she could get it lifted to her nose, Okamishiro called her name out in a panic.

“Don’t sniff that! That’s cayenne pepper. If you get that up your nose, it’ll burn so bad you’ll wish you were dead,” he shook his head at her, wide eyed.

Faelyn slowly lowered the scoop, placing it back where it belonged and decided she had better return to Okamishiro’s side where she would not be so nosy about things. “Thank you,” she whispered slightly embarrassed, but glad he stopped her.

“It’s okay,” he consoled her, hugging her to his side. “The herbs are fine. But the hot spices you want to stay away from if you want to smell.” He picked up a scoop of mint leaves and held it to her nose. “Smell.”

“Mmm, they smell so fresh and minty,” She claimed as she took another sniff of them.

“They make really good tea, too. We’ll get some and have some mint and lemon tea,” he took a small bag and filled it with the mint leaves. He pointed to a big tub filled with sugar. “Fill a bag with sugar and I’ll get the vanilla pods.”

She nodded walking over to the sugar grabbing a bag that was next to the tub. She filled it nearly full then called out to Okamishiro holding the bag up. “Is that too much?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Nope. We’ll find a use for it.” Once he found the vanilla, he filled a bag with about ten pods. “Once we buy this, we can head back and buy some lemons then head home.”

She smiled warmly at him, finding it interesting that he called it home now, when before it was his home. She may have been reading too far into it, but she liked the feeling too much to convince herself otherwise. After closing the bag, she walked back over to his side. They set the bags down on the checkout counter and the NPC weighed and priced all of them. Once Okamishiro paid for the items and moved them to his inventory, they made their way back to the fruit stand for lemons. It wasn’t much longer and they were making their way to the residential district where Okamishiro’s home was.

\---

Grim Reaper aka Lee Miller, pulled into the driveway of his parents’ home. Climbing out of the car he walked up to the door and knocked softly then entered. The dogs barked for a few seconds then went crazy with joy realizing it was only part of the family. “It’s just me,” he called out as he walked toward the kitchen where he heard his parents talking. His parents were cleaning up after dinner.

“Hello,” he smiled wide as he walked over to his parents and gave his mother a hug. He looked around the kitchen thinking he would see his baby sister. “Where is Ava?”

“She said something about a meeting she had to be at in her game,” their mother replied with a sigh. “She is starting to let that game rule her life. I understand that she really likes it since it is about dragons, but I wish she would limit her time in there a little more.”

Lee chuckled and kissed his mother’s cheek and grabbed a fried chicken leg off the plate that was from dinner. “Well, I might be able to fix that for you. How long it will last is another thing.”

He turned and walked toward his little sister's room as he heard his mother call out to him.

“Don’t be dropping crumbs all over the floor back there.”

“Yes mother,” he called back to her with a soft chuckle. He opened the door to his sisters room walking in and closing the door behind him. Across the room, laying on her bed with her head gear on was his little sister Ava aka Nema in Dragon Lance. Walking up to the side of the bed he poked her in the leg.

“Hey, punkass. Get up and talk to me.” He poked her again.

It took Ava a minute or two before she started moving. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up, lifting the AmuSphere off of her head. “Lee? What are you doing here? You’re kinda interrupting something important. Can’t this wait?”

“Nope,” Lee plopped down on the edge of her bed causing her to bounce slightly. He turned and looked at her as he munched on his chicken leg. “I met a few of your friends from Dragon Lance the other day.”

Ava blinked up at him. “Huh? Friends? I think you’re gonna have to be a little more specific than ‘friends from Dragon Lance.’”

“Let's see,” He thought for a second. “In SpeedRunner Online they go by Shadow, Ryushiro and Kitsune. In Dragon Lance they go by Okamishiro, Kitsune and Moonshine.”

Ava’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh! Them! I didn’t know they played SpeedRunner.” She blinked again, scrunching her brows together. “Wait. You came here just to tell me that, or is there something wrong?”

“Yeah, there is something wrong. I was told by Kit and Shiro that DL was having some real issues and not only you, but Nate got mixed into some serious shit.” He paused for a second looking at his baby sister with a ‘spill it’ look on his face. “What’s going on?”

She looked up at him in surprise. She only knew what she experienced, which was only a fraction of what was going on. In fact, the meeting they were having right at that very moment was about what was going on. Everyone in the Unseen was there except for Celty and Creed. Also there was Tanya, Aaron, Klein, Moonshine, and Kirito from the Knights of the Mystic Dragons. They had just started not too long before Lee pulled her out of the game. They had been sat down for about fifteen minutes at that point.

“Look, I don’t know too much more than you do. At least I won’t until our meeting is over. If you’d come by like an hour later, I’d have more for you, depending on what the Knights tell us. Kitsune and Okamishiro probably told you more than I could,” Ava shook her head. “So, I’m not the best person to ask about this unless you want a play by play of what I was involved with, which I can’t do until I’m out of this meeting.”

“Is Moonshine at this meeting?” Lee asked standing from the bed and finishing off his chicken leg.

She gave him a raised eyebrow, her eyes looking from the chicken leg to his expectant expression. She sighed and nodded. “Yes, Moonshine is there. I’m guessing you want me to go tell him you’re looking for him. But he can’t really switch games right now. Either way, you’re going to have to exercise your patience bone a little right now.”

“Don’t have to,” Lee grinned as he walked over to the tissue box and plucked a couple of tissues out of it. One to wrap the chicken bone in until he could get it back to the kitchen trash and the other to wipe his fingers and mouth with. “Go back to the meeting and tell Moonshine your brother is going to be calling him and to put me on speaker. I want to be part of this meeting.”

“Oh, God! Lee, come on. It’s not that deep. I’m fine. Eowyn is doing better. You don’t have to go in there kicking ass and taking names. I mean, it’s one thing to want updates but…” She looked at his expression, which was firm and unyielding. She knew he wasn’t backing down. Ava sighed. “Alright, fine. I’ll let them know. Go toss your bone and wash your hands. I’ll talk to them.”

She laid back down on the bed and put the headset back on. “Resume.”

It was a few minutes later and Lee walked back in his sisters room lifting his phone from his pocket. He had programmed Tsuki’s number into his phone beforehand so there would be no issues in getting his hands on it later. Going into the Streamline App he went to Tsuki’s number, he pressed the phone icon and it started dialing the number. It rang a few times before it was answered.

Tsukiro, in Dragon Lance as Moonshine, picked up on the other side. “Hello? Who is this?” The app translated perfectly between their phones, just as if they were in game.

“Sorry, Shadow, or should I call you Moonshine since you’re in your other game? This is Grim Reaper aka Lee. I am Nema’s older brother. Your little brother gave me your number after he and Kit told me what was going on in Dragon Lance.” He looked over at his baby sister that was laid out on her bed back in full dive. “I want details. From what I have heard there is some bad shit going on in that game.”

“Yes that’s right. I’m assuming Shiro and Kit told you the basics of it. There’s been hacking disguised as glitches regarding the sensitivity settings. We don’t know why, but we do know that they’re after Celty, who had witnessed something she wasn’t supposed to. In addition, they want something from this game that could possibly ruin it. I won’t bore you with the specific details, but we believe they want it to get the game shut down or to end it for whatever reason. We’ve been doing research on the game and its creator to try and find out who and why they’re doing this.”

Lee’s head nodded slowly, pacing the floor as he listened to Tsukiro talk. “Are Celty and Creed there because I would like to talk to them.”

“Myself and my second in command are standing in for Celty and Creed here,” a female voice spoke up.

“And who are you?” Lee asked.

“I am Tanya, the guild master of the Knights of the Mystic Dragon. We have been boarding the members of the Unseen since the incident. Celty and Creed are afraid since this attempt to get their hands on Celty failed they might try again. So they asked us to watch over the others until this is settled.” Tanya expressed to him.

“How much danger are we looking at here? I mean from what I understand about this sensitivity glitch, that there is some serious shit in itself,” Lee made comment.

“The glitch is maxing out players’ levels so that if they get hurt in game, they can and will get hurt IRL because of it. Look at it this way, if you got into a crash in SpeedRunner with the sensitivity maxed--if there were no safety features that is--you would feel like you were in a crash for real. Same thing for DL. You get stabbed in the stomach on max level, you’re going to feel like you got stabbed IRL too. The worse damage you take in game, the more your mind will believe you're actually hurt. Possibly leaving you in shock or worse,” Tsukiro explained to him. “That’s why I told Kit and Shiro to stay the hell out of Dragon Lance.”

Lee’s hand lifted and he rubbed the top of his head with a grimacing look on his face. “Since an attempt was made on my sister’s and Nathan’s behalf, would it be best to keep them out of game as well un--”

“NO!” Nema and Eowyn bellowed in unison.

Lee gave an audible growl. “Now you listen to me you little punkasses. You’re my baby sister and Nathan is like a little brother to me, and if they’re saying it’s dangerous you need to call it quits in this game until they find out what is going on and stop it. You get that?”

“It would be for the best,” Tsukiro said to the two of them. “No brother wants their sibling’s death on their conscience.”

“Agreed,” Kirito added. “I’ve told Leafa the same thing. The less loved ones we have in here, the better.”

“He is right. Celty and Creed would not want any of you to be in danger. Being here you’re safe, but not as safe as you would be if you just did not sign in until we get this settled.” Tanya added to the warnings.

“We don’t know what these assholes are capable of doing, nor how far they’re willing to go. We already know they’re willing to kill,” Tsukiro made another point.

“Exactly. We don’t want anyone else to be an example of their violence,” Klein agreed.

“Listen to your brother Nema, and to us. Right now anything could happen. And like Tanya said, you might be safe here, but if they find out the Knights of the Mystic Dragon are trying to stop them, we will be their next target. And things are not going to be safe around here when they do. The less people we have to worry about the better,” Aaron told Nema and the other members of the Unseen.

“But we can’t just let you guys do this on your own! And who knows how long it will take to get these guys off the game?!” Nema retorted. “And what if you guys end up in trouble and none of us are around to help you?!”

“We have friends on the outside that knows what’s going on. They are trying to help us solve this. If they see a drastic change take place in the coding they will alert the Admins and the authorities of what is going on. The less they have to keep an eye on the better chance they have in helping us bring this to an end,” Tanya explained.

“Nema, I think we’re fighting a losing battle,” Eowyn said to her. “They’re not gonna back down on this.”

Nema sighed. “Fine.”

“Grim, is there anything else you want to know about? Any other questions?” Tsukiro asked him.

“No, but I might be able to help you guys out. My uncle works for the company that got Dragon Lance and SpeedRunner out to the World Wide Web. He overlooks all the servers that host the online games, VR’s or otherwise. You get me as much information as you can on this and I will turn it over to him and see what comes out of it. Including usernames of these guys you think are behind this, and he can get you actual names and even their home address.” Lee explained to them.

“That would be a great help to us, Grim,” Tsukiro said. “I’ll get that information to you as soon as possible. Once our meeting is over, I will PM you in game, so look out for it the next time you log on to SRO.”

“Will do,” he fell silent for a second in thought. “Nate. Me and Ava will be coming by to see you tomorrow. I will take the two of you out for lunch. Your choice.”

“Really?! Awesome!” Eowyn cheered.

“I don’t think that means, ‘go overboard,’” Nema laughed at him.

“I wasn’t gonna! … Well, I thought about it, but I wouldn’t!”

Lee chuckled, shaking his head. “I guess that is it then. I will leave you all to finish your talk and good luck with whatever it is you're doing in trying to get to the bottom of this. Nate, Ava. I want you both to sign out. Now. I don't want you any more involved in this then you already are. The less you know the better. It will keep your curiosity down and wanting to sign in and find out what is going on.” He fell silent then chuckled malicely.

“And don’t think you will get away with signing in and me not finding out about it. Because…” he paused and laughed again. “I am giving Moonshine permission to give everyone in that room that is trying to solve this… my number. So if they see your little asses in the game they are to contact me, and you know what will happen from there.” 

“Oi… don’t make me the policeman here. I mean, I don’t disagree with you, but don’t just volunteer me,” Tsukiro said half seriously. The others in the room laughed before he continued. “But he’s right. You two need to sign off starting now. It’s best for everyone involved. Please don’t take offense to that.”

“Alright…” Nema said quietly. There were sounds as the two of them exited the room, most likely to head somewhere else to sign out.

“Did they leave?” Lee asked after hearing a door close. When he heard someone hum in confirmation he continued. “How are you guys getting your information on this? Do you have an insider or were you lucky enough to get your hands on one of their own?”

“The latter and hopefully at some point the former as well,” Tsukiro answered. “I took one of their pawns into custody a few days ago. We haven’t had much luck with him, but we’re slowly piecing things together. But we need to gain some leads on this sooner rather than later.”

“Well, I won't be able to contact my uncle until tomorrow, but I will be sure to let him know that any information he gets we need A.S.A.P.” He heard his sister move behind him as he looked back at her sitting up on the bed.

“She is out. I will let you guys get back to work...or play,” he chuckled. “Whichever you want to call it.”

“Alright. You three take care. Don’t let them get too bored,” Tsukiro said before ending the call.

As Ava sat up, swinging her feet to the floor and placing her head gear to the nightstand, Lee sat down beside her. He placed his hand to her shoulder and gave her an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, Ava. I know you really enjoy Dragon Lance, but while this is going on you're safer out of game than in. Even if they don’t come for you again. With the sensitivity being maxed like they said it is that alone is enough danger in itself. Anything could happen to you and the pain you would endure in that game being the type of game it is, would be far too much for you in the real world.”

“I know, but I really wanted to help them,” Ava sighed as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

“I know you do,” Lee told her, patting her shoulder tenderly. “But they have this under control, and if Celty and Creed are truly like you told me they are they would have told you to leave the game as well. Like me they don’t want to see anything happen to you two either.” He smiled and stood from the bed's edge.

“Look, why don’t you and Nathan come hang out in SpeedRunner. Kitsune and Shiro are over there and having a really good time. You don’t have to race. Just come hang out with all of us. At least you will have something to do until everything in Dragon Lance is settled. You already have it and I will swing for Nate to get it as well, since I know his parents won’t give him the money for it.”

“Really?!” Ava exclaimed.

“Mhmm, call and talk to him. See what he has to say, and remind him we will be seeing him about 12 tomorrow. After lunch, we can get SpeedRunner downloaded on his computer.”

“Cool!” Ava exclaimed as she stood and gave her brother a tight hug. “I will see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow,” Lee told her, returning her hug. Releasing her he turned and walked toward the bedroom door to leave. “If you want--after your call to Nate--I will be on SpeedRunner once I get home. Sign in and message me. We can meet up and hang out. You, me, and Robin.”

Ava nodded her head quickly with a wide bright smile as she watched her older brother open the door and leave her room. As soon as he was gone she picked up her phone and called Nathan.


	10. Chapter Ten

It had been four hours since Ryushiro logged off of Dragon Lance to help out his brother and the others with a spell that was needed to quell the dragons, which had been sent on a rampage by whoever was hacking the game. He knew his brother wasn’t happy about him being there, but he said nothing about it to him. More than that, Tsukiro now knew about him and Rain, though in the end, he accidentally let his brother believe he and Rain had been… intimate. He knew he shouldn’t have let his brother nearly have a heart attack, but his reaction was too funny, even if it was just the belief that he had sex in VR and not IRL. Still, it was golden. 

On another note, he couldn’t believe he somehow ended up on his normal sleeping schedule again. Somewhere in the mix up of spending time with Rain and then sleeping, and then logging into Dragon Lance, he lost track of both time and time of day. Either way, he wasn’t too thrown off or mad about it. Though he did regret that either he or Rain would end up losing sleep in order to catch each other in VR. He preferred it to be him since he had nothing to do over the summer yet Rain had work and practicing for races no doubt. 

So Ryushiro sat at home in his dorm by himself, eating lunch and killing time until it was a decent enough hour in SpeedRunner for Rain to be logged in. He was somewhat bored, having painted for a bit, read for a bit, then watched TV for a bit. It wasn’t long and he decided “to hell with it”. 

He cleaned up his dishes from lunch then went back to his room and started the game. 

“Link start.” 

Ryushiro spawned into SRO at the Interstate One ‘O Five hotel. Before heading out, he opened his panel and checked his friends list, seeing that to his surprise, Stallion was logged on. With a wide smile, he hit the “check location” button and the map popped up, showing Stallion’s location on the map as a red dot. She was at her home instead of at the garage, which surprised him a bit. He took his car out of inventory in the parking lot, then drove off, making the short drive to her home in Los Angeles.

The house was huge. Almost a mansion. He could easily tell there were several bedrooms and bathrooms. From the angle he got as he drove up, there was a pool in the backyard. The lawn space was widespread. It had a couple of balconies, a spacious front porch, and two four-car garages that probably housed all of the cars they weren’t working on at their actual garage. 

“Whoa,” he said as he parked in one of the driveways and hopped out of his car. After locking the car with the fob, he put the key back in inventory and walked up to the front door. He pressed the doorbell, hearing it chime inside. 

“Coming!” Stallion called out from the kitchen at the back of the house. She finished shoving the things from breakfast back in the refrigerator and started toward the door. She had left the shop about two hours before, but she did not want to sign out since she still had a lot to do on her car and since she had the day off there was no need. 

Reaching for the door handle she pulled open the door, a huge bright smile spreading across her lips when she saw her White Dragon standing there.

“Well hello there.” 

“Hey, I’m surprised you’re on so early. It’s like, what, four in the morning here?” He opened his panel and nodded. “Yup. Still butt crack of dawn for you.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Tell me you at least slept a little.” 

She returned his kiss giving him a firm but gentle hug. “Yes, I got a little sleep because I knew once I started on the Stang I would not stop until I had the new motor at least sitting back in the engine compartment.” 

“Good,” he nodded with a happy smile. He peeked over her shoulder with a smirk. “So, do I get to see your super cool clubhouse, or is it members only?”

Stallion giggled and stepped aside motioning for him to enter. “Even if it was members only, my name is on the lease so they can kiss my backside… Welcome to the Humble Abode of the Thundering Horses, sir.” She closed the door behind him as he stepped into the foyer. 

The inside was even bigger than the outside. It was lavish but without being obnoxious. He’d never been inside of a place like it. VR or IRL. He imagined this was what the houses were like on the higher floors of Aincrad. Even his house in Marten wasn’t this luxurious. 

“Wow. Nice place. Not really humble, but not ‘I’m rich, haha’ either,” he commented as he looked around. 

“Well”--she grabbed his hand and tugged him lightly to follow--“Americans like to waste space. Why anyone would need a place this big is beyond me. I mean, the only reason we got it was because of the team, and it fits all nine of us so we have a room of our own.”

They walked through a high arch entryway into the living room which was to the left of the foyer. “This is the living room.” She presented it to him with the extension of her arms spread wide.

Ryushiro looked around and whistled. The living room alone was bigger than his dorm. The difference in living space between Japan and America was so obvious. He knew as soon as he logged out, he’d feel cramped. They even had a billiards table towards the back. The large windows lit the room very well on their own without the house lights being on. Or at least they would if it wasn’t still somewhat dark out. In the back of the living room were a set of double glass doors that led to the back porch and the backyard. The furniture all looked more comfortable than his bed and the TV was enormous. 

“Well…” Ryushiro said. He pointed to one corner and moved his finger in a tight circle. “My living room is the size of that square right there. All kidding aside though, America is lucky. They don’t have to fit too many people on too small of land space. Japan doesn’t have room for houses like these.” 

Stallion’s hand came up as a finger tapped her chin as she acted as if she were in thought. She then leaned into him and whispered. “They might if they were not so horny.”

Ryushiro flushed and turned to look at Stallion with wide eyes. He blinked slowly at her. “I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a hint or a pun. And I’m scared to take a guess, cause either way if I guess wrong I’m in deep shit.” 

Stallion busted out in laughter. “You’re so funny, Shiro.” She grabbed his hand again and tugged him lightly to their next stop which was back through the foyer to the dining room, which was to the right of the foyer. “This is the dining room,” she told him, not stopping as she waved a hand at it. “Nothing to see here but chairs and a table.” She moved forward through yet another high archway. When she stopped they were standing in the kitchen.

He still had no answer as to whether she was giving him a hint or some sort of joke, but he brushed it off before he dug himself a hole. He looked around the kitchen and jealousy formed in the pit of his stomach like a stone. It too was almost bigger than his dorm and had so many more appliances, all in much, much better condition. It was decorated in warm-colored woods and stainless steel with white tiles. 

“Man, the things I could make in this kitchen if I had this IRL.” 

“So you like to cook IRL too, huh?” Stallion asked him. She then trotted over to the back corner wall of the kitchen that was covered with large window panes and a sliding glass door that led out to the backyard. It attached to the porch area that was just outside the living room. “I think this is my favorite part of this kitchen.” 

He smiled and looked outside. “It is very beautiful. And convenient. You don’t have to carry food back through the living room to get outside,” he laughed. Ryushiro looked at her with a smile. “So, I’m guessing your room has posters and models of cars everywhere, huh?” 

Stallion only smiled at him and took his hand once more, she tugged him forward again as she faced him causing her to walk backward. “Want to see?” She asked him biting her bottom lip.

“Of course,” he laughed. “I’d be pretty dumb to say no to that.” He raised his hand that wasn’t captured by hers. “My intentions are pure of course.” 

“I would hope so. I would hate to have to punch your lights out on our second day together.” She walked into a hallway from the kitchen that led upstairs. She then turned and walked facing forward. “Oh? So what happened in your game, Dragon Lance?”

“I was needed to cast a spell. The hacker decided to reprogram the dragons into attacking everyone, even their masters. We had to use a spell to put all of them to sleep. Thankfully they got some much-needed information.”

Stallion’s room was decorated with cars and purple, of course. It was exactly like he expected. There were posters of her favorite cars, but not a ton of them. There were model cars displayed in various locations. The carpet was white and plush and the walls were a light lavender. Her bedsheets were in violet, white and black. There were a few shelves that had anime, manga, other books, and movies. The wall space that didn’t have car posters had artwork of various things, both anime and not. The bedroom was at the very back in a corner, so there were enough windows to let in natural light. It was girly, but not to the point of being in stark contrast to her personality. 

“I love it,” he smiled, looking around the room. He spotted an exact replica of her Mustang that sat in the garage in Santa Monica, sitting on her dresser. He went over to it and examined it without touching. “Do you build these IRL too?”

She turned from looking at something on her desk to see what Ryushiro was asking about. “Mhmm. I have one like it IRL but it's a diecast. Daddy got it for me as a joke when he bought me the real thing for my Sweet 16.” She chuckled lightly as she walked over to him. “The sad part was the real thing looked nothing like the model.”

“How so?” He looked back at her. “Was it a bad model?” 

“Oh no! The model was beautiful. The real car was a basketcase. Well, it was not a basketcase but it was nothing but a shell.” She chuckled lightly looking down at the plastic model on the dresser as her mind drifted back to that day. “I was excited but so disappointed. I wanted to climb in it and drive it off that day, but it took me nearly until my 17 birthday to get her like I wanted her and on the road.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Ryushiro put his hands to his temples. “Your dad bought you a clunker for your sixteenth birthday, and it took you a year to even get it working properly?” 

“Mhmm,” she hummed as her head nodded. “He told me if I was going to be racing I needed to know everything about the car I was racing in. That way I knew without a doubt when something was wrong with it.” She gave a soft chuckle and looked up at him from the model. “I could not tell you how many times I wanted to roll it out into the middle of the street, stuff a rag in the gas tank and blow it up before I finally finished building her.”

He smiled at her with a laugh. “Well, in Japan, when something has lived for long enough, it gains a soul. It’s called ‘tsukumogami.’ A ‘tool god.’ It kind of works the same way with swords in the feudal era too. When a sword maker forges a sword, he forges part of his soul into it. And when the sword takes a life, it absorbs the life of the person it killed, making it stronger. The eviler the person it killed, the more cursed the sword is. The purer the person’s soul and the sword can even become blessed. That’s why you’re supposed to use katanas for good, not evil.” He smiled and looked back to the model of her car. “I suppose your car would be the same way. You took an empty shell--the hunk of steel--and you forged it into a masterpiece. Therefore your car has a piece of you now. All of the blood, sweat, and tears you put into it gave it life.” 

Stallion smiled brightly. “I can buy stock in that. I believe everything absorbs energy and after a while obtains a soul. Houses are a great example. That’s why people claim they are haunted.”

“Definitely. Lots of those in Japan for sure,” he laughed. “Especially historical structures. And since most historical structures are usually on places where people have died and were buried, that adds to the soul of the house and the land. And of course, that’s why people valued exorcists so much.” He waved his hand around. “Throw a bunch of that together, and you got your typical yokai and demons and exorcist mangas. I could probably throw a hundred Yen coin in a manga store and land on one like that.” 

Stallion giggled. “I’m sure.” She turned and looked at her room once more then turned back to Ryushiro. “So what do you want to do now? Anything special?”

He smiled and took her hand, pulling her closer to him. “Hmm. Nothing in particular I suppose. We can just hang out around here until you’re ready to go to the garage. Maybe we can even hop in the pool if it’s warm enough. Then again, it’s summer in LA, so I imagine every day is warm enough. We can watch movies and anime too. Whatever we want.” 

“Well,” she let her arms rest to his shoulders as she stood facing him. “The pool is heated for night time swimming when it is cool. So if we want to take a dip we can, and then come in and make breakfast again--”

“Again?” Ryushiro chuckled.

“Mhmm,” Her head bobbed. “I was putting everything away when you got here. Anyway, after that, we can watch a little anime. Then maybe about 12 head to the garage. “Oh wait! That will be like 1 in the morning for you. Maybe we can skip the anime.”

He shook his head with a smile, leaning in to kiss her. “It’s fine. I wanted to spend time with you. At least before I may or may not be needed in Dragon Lance again. I’m hoping not, but you never know.” He blinked, remembering his brother, then smirked. “By the way, Tsukiro knows about us. He’s completely fine with it, but I may or may not have accidentally made him think we had sex, and I may or may not have let him believe it. Soooo, fair warning.” 

Stallion’s arms fell from Ryushiro’s shoulders as she laughed hardily. “Oh my God! This is priceless!” Her hand went to her stomach as she started to calm herself looking back at Ryushiro. “How far can I string him along?”

Ryushiro laughed, hugging her tightly. “A little. Don’t be too mean to him. He may be trouble, but I love him. And he’s happy about us, believe it or not. He was teasing me before I told him what I did.” 

Stallion nodded her head slowly giving him a kiss. “I promise I won’t give him too much grief over it, but I will give him some trouble. So was he shocked? I mean that it was with me that you hooked up with?”

Ryushiro gave a sheepish chuckle. “Well, actually he figured me out. He went down the list of possible suspects till he came to you. He found it amusing. Well, maybe equal parts amused and shocked. And when I said it was more than just a date, he passed out. It was really funny.” 

Stallion chuckled inwardly. “Serves him right for being such a pain when I found him his first race. That he won nonetheless.”

“That reminds me. You’re going to have to explain to me what happened to make you so annoyed at him. I mean, I can imagine, but still,” he smiled. 

Stallion chuckled lightly. “He is so,” she growled. “I don’t know… It’s just the way he is about things. Like in the car just before we were about to race. He was,” she growled again. “I don’t know.” She looked at him and smiled. “I don’t think there is a word for him. So there is only one way to explain him. He’s Shadow. It’s not that I don’t like him. I do. He is a really cool guy. It’s just something about him that pushes my buttons.” 

Ryushiro laughed, kissing her cheek. “My brother is a character alright. There’s only one in the world like him. Our parents always say that we were born years apart because the world couldn’t handle us as twins.” 

She pulled back slightly and looked at Ryushiro. “Thank God you’re nothing like your brother. I don’t think I could handle two of you. It would be me or the both of you and guess what? No offense.” She smirked at him and kissed the tip of his nose. “It’s not going to be me.”

Ryushiro laughed and shrugged. “Like I said. Brothers, not twins.” He took her hand in his and pulled her towards the door. “Let’s go for a swim and work up our appetite. Then I can make blueberry pancakes.” 

“Mmmm, sounds good. And the cool thing about a racing VR is you don’t have to worry about a cooking skill. Everyone here is a good cook.” She giggled softly as she followed him out of the door of her room.

They headed downstairs and out the living room doors to the backyard. The pool was a large oval shape with a smaller circular part on one end that he assumed was a hot tub. He gasped and ran around and over to it. He took his shoes and socks off and dipped a toe into it. Sure enough, it was hot. Not scalding, but hot enough to make you work up a sweat. 

“Awesome! Hot tub! Well, it’s no hot spring, but still!” 

“We can get in the hot tub if you like instead of the pool.” Stallion said walking over to him. “Though the rule High Roller made you may not want to get in.” Her expression was serious as she looked on at him.

Ryushiro blinked at her, pulling his foot out like the tub was filled with acid. “W-what?” 

“No clothing or swimsuits allowed in the hot tub,” She bluntly informed him. 

Slowly he looked down into the tub then looked at his foot. He looked back at Stallion, his face pale. He pointed at his foot. “Is my foot gonna get infected? Am I gonna get gangrene?!” 

She started to laugh as her head shook. “Why would your foot fall off?”

“Hot tubs are Petri dishes! Why would he make a rule like that?! Do you guys clean this thing regularly?! I bet he made that rule just to have girls over! UGH! Now my mental picture is even worse! Who knows whose bodily fluids I just put my poor foot into?!!” 

“Well, since there have only been three people in this hot tub and it gets cleaned every week. I would have to say you’re safe.” She turned from him walking back to the pool's edge. “You can be a real Drama Queen. Just like…” Her fingers snapped together. “That’s it!!” She turned and looked at Ryushiro her finger not only pointing at him but shaking too. “Your brother is a Drama Queen.” 

Ryushiro laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “This is true. He can be very dramatic. That’s the one thing we both have in common.” He looked back to the hot tub, kneeling down and grazing his fingers through the water. “We can get in the hot tub too. But…” He looked back to her with a curious expression before blushing. “Does he really make people use it nude? And why?” 

“No,” she chuckled. “He made that rule and lets it be well known to the ones that take notice of it. It keeps unwanted out of it. Like you said, it’s a petri dish. We don’t want something growing in there. We know we are all clean.” She chuckled. “Though in VR I don’t know if that kinda stuff is possible.” 

“True, but still,” he laughed, standing up. “It’s gross to think about. In any case, I’ll let you decide. Hot tub, pool, or both?” 

Stallion shrugged. “I have not been in the hot tub for a bit so let’s get in it.”

He nodded and opened his panel. The other day he had stopped at The Winner’s Circle and purchased some extra sets of clothes, including a few pairs of swim trunks. He picked one out--a pair that was mostly dark violet with white on the bottom part of the legs. He changed into it, tapping the ‘change’ button. 

As he was changing into his swim trunks, Stallion changed into her swimsuit. A strapless bikini of black and a neon purple. The purple was in the shapes of large tropical lilies, so there were only a few that were seen within the black. She walked back over to the hot tub as Ryushiro was stepping down into it.

“You want me to turn on the jets or just leave it?” She asked him walking over to the controls and squatted down next to them. 

“Ooh! Jets! Yes please!” He watched as she poked at the control panel until the water started bubbling violently. It felt like being in a pot of boiling water, but without the extreme heat and excruciating pain. “Oohhhhhh,” he said as he watched the bubbles boil and rise up to the surface, gliding his hands over them as they popped. He stood up straight in the water and held his hand out to Stallion with a smile. “Come on in. One ingredient does not a soup make,” he laughed. 

She giggled and took his hand as he helped keep her steady as she stepped down into the tub, she hummed lightly. “It’s been a long time since I have been in here.” The look on her face said she was trying to remember when the last time was. “I guess it’s been about 2 years. Give or take.” 

He pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist underneath the water. “Really? Why is that?” 

“Haven’t had the need. We only use this when we are really sore. From working on the cars or from accidents -- car and repairs.” She explained wrapping her arms around him. 

“I see. Definitely a good thing to have,” he nodded. He floated back a little so that he was leaning back slightly, bringing her with him. He held onto her with one arm and floated with the other. “Have you ever been in an accident?” He paused, making a face. Ryushiro shook his head. “Who am I kidding? Of course you have. Every racer has. It’s like asking a veterinarian if they’ve ever been bitten. What I should be asking is what was your worst accident?”

“IRL or VR?” She shook her head and chuckled lightly as she laid against him. “Or you just want me to tell you the worst and you guess if it was IRL or VR?”

“Make a game out of tragedy huh?” He chuckled back. “I guess that’s the best way to move past it. In that case, tell me a random story, and I’ll guess if it happened here or out there.” 

Stallion nodded. “About two and a half years ago I was racing an inexperienced driver that was behind the wheel of a car that he should not have been behind the wheel of. We were on the strip, ready to race. When we both shot out of the hole everything was fine. What happened on his side I don’t know…” She fell silent thinking back on the race. Her head then shook. “The sheer power scared him? He could not control it when the front end came up on him? It could have been a mix of both and he ended up tapping my rear bumper and sending me into a spin. My brother said I did like three, three-sixties until my wheels hit the curb and brought the car side over side flipping like four times. The car finally came to a rest, sliding into the front of a small bakery.” 

Ryushiro looked at her in shock, imagining the scene in his mind. “Well, this is just my best guess, but I’d say VR because I don’t think the officials or whoever was sponsoring him would let him get behind the wheel. That just seems… unlikely to me. Like letting a civilian with no training drive a NASCAR racecar.” 

She smiled slightly at him and nodded her head. “It was VR, but it was the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my 19 years. And the scariest in the 3 years I have been racing.”

Ryushiro looked at her up and down before meeting her eyes. He brought one hand up and smoothed back her hair, caressing her face. “Are you afraid of dying?”

“Yes and no. I know one day it will happen and I am not going to get out of it. Though, I am afraid of dying at a young age. I got so much I want to do in my life. Fall in love, get married, have kids.” She smiled warmly. “And of course be a famous racer.”

“Then don’t die,” Ryushiro said the words so simply, as if it was obvious, but there was fear in his eyes, as well as concern. “Just make a promise to yourself that you won’t give Shinigami-sama any reason to take you away from this world.” He smiled suddenly, giving a laugh. “But I’m sure you won’t. You remind me of something my mother always says to my father. ‘You’re too stubborn to die.’” 

She chuckled lightly. “I don’t think it’s stubbornness. I think it’s determination, but I don’t plan on dying any time soon.” Her hand lifted from the water as she knocked on her head. “Knock on wood.” 

He laughed and leaned forward, putting his forehead to hers. He looked into her eyes with a smile. “Good. Because I want you sticking around for as long as possible.” Suddenly he pulled away with a frown of confusion. “But… why wouldn’t you just retire from it after so long? Say like, once you’re thirty-something. That’s usually the age racers retire, isn’t it? Especially if they make it big. Past that age, you won’t have to race anymore. And it’s not like you couldn’t get the satisfaction from SRO. So why not retire once you reach your racing goals?”

“I would, but it only depends on where my personal life is. I mean if I don’t have a family I would just push on with my career. There would be no need to settle down. Family gives a person more reason to settle. After all, there is nothing more important than the ones you love.” 

Ryushiro nodded with a smile. “I agree.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “So, what’s the worst accident you had IRL?”

“I hit the wall. Well grazed the wall. I was able to keep from hitting it straight on by jerking the wheel to the left so I just slid down it. Messed up the whole side of the car from bumper to bumper.” She chuckled. “I am just glad it was not the Stang.” 

“Were you hurt?”

“Nope, well~” her head tipped to one side. “A little. My knee slammed into the dash when I impacted, but other than that I was fine.” Stallion told him.

Ryushiro smiled and shook his head. “Then I’d say that’s a win in my book. As long as you’re okay physically. Forgive me if I care less about the car than I do about you,” he laughed. 

She smiled warmly, shaking her head. “I understand. The car can be replaced. I can’t.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for caring about me.”

“You never need to thank me for that,” he shook his head, kissing her back. Like you said. Cars can be replaced, you can’t. But just know that I care about you enough to both say to hell with the car and respect that you do love your cars and racing.” He laughed with a grin. 

“I wish you could watch me race this season, but the best I could do is record it and then you watch it. My brother refuses to do LiveStream. He says too many freaks out there.”

“I would be perfectly happy with a recording,” Ryushiro nodded with a smile. “It may not be the same as being there in person, but at least I would get to see it.” 

Her head nodded slowly. “My family records every one of my races.” She sat up and looked into his eyes. “Do you realize how many SD Cards my family owns? I told my parents they need to buy stock in SanDisk to get some of their money back.”

Ryushiro laughed. “Hey, it’s a big company. And an essential one. Information storage is a multibillion-dollar market. That’s a lot of money if your parents manage to get enough stock, though most of the money would come from premium stock which you can only get by invitation.”

Stallion nodded. “True but even a few bucks in their case would help with the money they have spent on them.” She chuckled. “Or maybe I can get them to sponsor me and get it back that way.” 

“Definitely,” he chuckled. 

He leaned in to kiss her again, lingering longer than he had been before. He kept one arm around her waist and placed the other on her neck under her ear, his thumb grazing her cheek. He kissed her more deeply, tilting his head slightly. He never knew it was this incredible to have someone you cared about. Sometimes he had felt jealous of his brother and Kaori, and being with Stallion--with Rain--showed him that those feelings of jealousy were rightfully justified. 

He pulled away to whisper to her. “I love being with you. I wish I could live in this game twenty-four-seven.” He gave a humorless chuckle. “Boy, if Tsukiro heard me say that, he’d knock my marbles out.” 

“I am sure he would, but here there is no danger like there was in SAO and we can still sign out to be in the real world when we need to. Though our time differences are killer.” Stallion confirmed as she kissed him again before he could add anything else.

The two were so into their kissing they did not hear the door to the patio slide open as two members of Thundering Horses stepped out of the house.

“Don’t you think the water in the hot tub is hot enough without adding to it?” High Roller stated. “And I better see birthday suits when you climb out of there.” He grinned like the Cheshire cat.

“I think we need to drag them out of there and cool them down with a dunk in the pool,” Whistle replied.

Ryushiro nearly jumped out of his skin, flinching so hard he released his hold on Stallion. He scrambled around behind her, his face going red, and not from the heat of the hot tub. He hid behind her as best he could. 

“Do something! I don’t want to die!” He whispered to her. “They’re gonna kill me!” 

Stallion looked slightly behind her as she heard High Roller make another comment as he chuckled. “Let’s hope you never need a protector Stallion. He will be too busy hiding behind you to do anything but piss himself.”

“HEY!” Stallion barked as she climbed out of the hot tub. “Trust me if he didn’t have any respect for you guys I am sure he would be kicking your asses. But you’re just a couple of pains in my ass and he knows you’re not going to hurt me. So back the Hell off.”

“Calm down, Sis,” Whistle told her, walking over to the edge of the hot tub and offered his hand to Ryushiro. “We are just giving him a hard time.” He looked back to Ryushiro and smiled. “If we did not give him a hard way to go you would think we hated him.”

“But then if we hated him we would just kick his ass and send him running home,” High Roller replied. 

Ryushiro looked from Whistle’s hand to his face and back. He cautiously reached out for it before pulling back at the last moment and floating back a little, shying away from him. He looked up at him wide-eyed. “S-so… you’re… not gonna d-drown me?” 

“Now why would I do that? I like you Ryushiro. Though I think you need to toughen up a little, but Sis likes you, so all is good. As long as you do like she said and actually protect her. Not hide behind her.” 

Ryushiro gave a smile that was half frown. “Hey. You’re her brother. I think a little fear is wise in my case. As for being weak, I doubt you two are the people I need to be protecting her from. Anyone else can kiss my ass.” He climbed out of the water with help from Whistle. “I wouldn’t disrespect my girlfriend’s family. That’s the most dishonorable thing I can think of.” 

“Well, that’s good to know.” Whistle clasped his hand to Ryushiro’s shoulder. “Not that she can’t take care of herself, but to know she would have to fight a fight without backup would piss me off. Especially when it’s her…” Whistle fell silent as he looked to his sister. “Boyfriend? So you and Shiro are an item now?”

Stallion nodded her head with a bright smile. “I know it was quick, but when you know it’s right. You don’t hesitate, right?”

Whistle chuckled. “That’s what Dad always says, so yeah. You’re right.” 

Ryushiro laughed sheepishly, rubbing his neck. “Um. Well, since we’re on good terms then…” He turned to Whistle and bowed deeply. “Whistle, I don’t know your real name, but I promise to take care of Rain and honor the both of you by taking care of her. I won’t let you down. I swear!” 

He offered his hand to Ryushiro. “It’s Keith and we were good from the get-go. Why you thought different was beyond me, but don’t just protect her, love her as much if not more than she loves you. Keep her happy and you will keep me happy.” He looked to his sister. “And she is pretty easy to keep happy.” 

Ryushiro smiled sheepishly once more, shaking Whistle’s hand. “Well… when I said she kissed me on the nose in the garage… you looked like you wanted to punch my head down into my chest… But nonetheless, I promise.” 

“Sorry about that, it just took me by surprise. That’s not like my sister. Not when it comes to guys. Most she tells to get lost.” Whistle confirmed.

“That’s because most guys only want one of two things from me. A piece of ass or to fix their car.” Stallion informed them. “Ryushiro was not like that. Plus, him being a hotty was a bonus.”

“Well, I mean,” Ryushiro grinned, ruffling his hair. “I do have nice hair and eyes. That’s about it though, other than my fashion sense. I’ve always thought Tsukiro was way better looking than me. Having white hair in a society dominated by black is not easy at all.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek quickly. “But I’m glad you think so.” 

Stallion’s head nodded quickly. “I do.”

“Come on,” Whistle said as he turned toward the house. “My Avi is hungry and wants food and pancakes sounds awesome right now.”

“With a pound of bacon on the side,” High Roller commented following behind him. 

“Well, I don’t know about a pound of bacon, but I was going to make blueberry pancakes anyway,” Ryushiro laughed, grabbing a towel to dry off before he switched into a thin, long-sleeved lavender shirt and white jeans with several silver necklaces. He followed the other two into the house, holding Stallion’s hand. 

Once they were in the kitchen, Ryushiro opened the fridge and pulled out milk, eggs, butter, blueberries, and the bacon for High Roller. He tossed the package at him then went to the cupboard to get out flour, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. He looked to Stallion with a smile.

“Want to help make the pancakes?” 

“Sure,” she bounced over next to him, still in her swimsuit but had it covered with a long, t-shirt-like, swimsuit cover that looked like her swimsuit. “What do you need me to do?”

“Sift the dry ingredients while I mix together the wet. Then we’ll put them together. Since there’s four of us and the others might show up when we’re done, we’ll make six cups of batter. So use that much flour, a fourth as much sugar, and however much cinnamon you want,” Ryushiro instructed her, pointing to each ingredient. He pulled out a few mixing bowls and some measuring spoons and cups. “And don’t forget the powder and soda, or the pancakes will be flat instead of fluffy.”

“Got it,” she stated and got busy on the batter. Halfway through like Ryushiro said Torque and Frogger walked into the kitchen.

“Shiro!” Torque exclaimed.

Frogger only waved then asked. “Are you part of the team now?”

Whistle looked over at Ryushiro in thought. “You know, if your sister in law wants to join the team we have three more bedrooms downstairs you guys could take over.”

“I am sure since he is dating your sister now he would want to camp out in her room, Whistle,” High Roller proclaimed as he poured himself a cup of coffee. 

Ryushiro’s eyes widened. He looked from Stallion to Whistle and back. He raised a finger and opened his mouth. Nothing came out for a solid five seconds before he said, “I shall remain firmly neutral on that issue.” 

Stallion giggled. “Firmly neutral, huh?”

“You know a guy and a girl can share a bed without anything happening, Shiro, right?” Torque claimed as she looked their way stepping up to the coffeemaker with her cup in hand.

“Plus, would they really be sharing a bed? I mean we normally just use this place to spawn in and out of the game,” Frogger reminded them.

Again, Ryushiro opened his mouth, but after another five seconds of not finding anything safe to say, he closed his mouth and turned away, shaking his head. “Nope. No hole digging today.” 

Stallion only chuckled as she walked over to him and kissed his cheek. “It’s up to you. There is still a free room and no hard feelings if you would rather use it. Not like I can’t find you after I sign in.” She leaned closer to him and whispered, “But it would be nice to spawn in with you and find myself wrapped in your arms.” 

Ryushiro smiled and kissed her cheek, whispering back. “Same room then.” He turned to the others and responded, “I’d be honored to join the Thundering Horses. Though it may take me a while to get a car worthy of the name.” 

“Pfft, whatever!” High Roller waved a hand as he lifted his cup of coffee with the other to take a drink.

Torque giggled as she held her cup in both hands. “You seem to forget who you’re dating. Do you really think she is going to let her beau roll in anything less than her own?”

Stallion smiled nodding her head as she looked at him.

Ryushiro blinked at Stallion in confusion. “Uh. What does that mean? I mean, I know what she’s saying but… What is she saying?”

“She is saying your car will be as quick and as sharp as the Stang because Stallion won’t let you drive a POS,” Whistle clarified. 

Ryushiro smiled at the others then at Stallion, giving her a kiss. “Thank you. Though I would still like to get a car that matches the team’s aesthetic. I am an artist after all. I’m not going to have a ‘09 BMW as my primary when everyone else’s are three to five times my age. That just looks weird.” He grinned, thinking of Stallion’s Mustang. “I’ll find a car that fits the aesthetic, and I’ll make it the best it can possibly be.” 

“Of course you will. Look who your girlfriend is,” Frogger commented with a giggle.

Stallion shook her head and looked at Ryushiro. “I will talk to Kit when she comes back on and see if she wants to join. I know when we first met she thought I was going to kick her to the curb after I taught her everything she needed to know. So this should surprise her.”

Ryushiro’s eyes widened once more. He blinked. “Huh? Why would she think that? What happened?”

Stallion shook her head. “A bad rumor that Grim filled her in on.”

“Bad rumor? About what?” He shook his head. He couldn’t imagine Stallion doing anything like that. “Where did something like that come from?”

“A couple of old players that came to us and we taught them everything they needed to know.” High Roller started. “They stabbed us in the back. They were moonlighting outside the Team. What any of us win in a race we split to help keep the things we have. The garage, the house. Any extra cars. These two players were keeping all the money and not helping out with anything. Stallion dealt with them and kicked them out. They spread rumors telling everyone Stallion grooms you and tosses you to the dogs after.” 

“Tch,” Ryushiro glared down into the batter he was mixing blueberries into. “So that’s how they thank someone, huh.” He turned and raised an eyebrow at Stallion. “And Grim believed this?”

“Yeah, only because I never set it straight. The two players were great racers and I did not want to give them a bad name. So I let it go. I figured if people were that shallow to believe rumors then they were not worth the effort. The ones that blew it off and came to us anyway were the ones that really wanted to learn and race. We give everyone that comes to us the choice to join us or go off on their own. We have never cut someone loose without the offer to join us.”

“Still,” Ryushiro shook his head with an angry scowl. “If I ever see them, I won’t go easy on them. And I won’t even have to touch them.” 

Stallion smiled and kissed his cheek. “You go, tiger,” She whispered to him.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Ryushiro sat in Stallion’s--and now his--room after showering to get the chlorine out of his hair and off of his skin. Stallion herself was in the shower as he sat on the bed, looking around. Once he got tired of looking around at the room, he laid down, placing his head on one of the pillows. He folded his hands on his stomach and crossed his ankles, staring up at the ceiling. He had a lot to think about and process. 

Whistle was fine with him being with his sister, and now he was a part of the Thundering Horses racing team. He had spent at least two whole minutes looking at the icon and insignia next to his name on his panel. Not only that, he was now sharing a room at the team’s house with Stallion. Which meant no more paying for a hotel and no more keeping his car in inventory. After breakfast, he had pulled his BMW into one of the garages next to one of Stallion’s cars. They also made space in the garage for Kaori’s Toyota just in case she decided to join. 

But more than that, he was growing closer and closer to Stallion. Her career choice scared him, but also inspired him and excited him. He trusted her to not do anything too reckless. He hoped more than anything that being with him would give her the motivation to be more than careful. And more than that, he wanted to watch her succeed in her career, achieving her goals and dreams. The space that he had made in his heart for her was slowly--but also not so slowly--growing bigger and bigger. When he thought about it, his chest swelled up in bliss. He couldn’t remember ever being this happy. 

A huge smile broke out on his face involuntarily. 

Stepping out of the shower Stallion called out to Ryushiro, “So have you found yourself a Team jacket yet. I am sure you will really like the white and purple one. I have the opposite of it.”

Ryushiro called back, “Yeah, Whistle gave me one. He didn’t even have to ask which one I wanted. He just gave me the white and purple jacket.” He chuckled. 

Stallion chuckled. “That’s my brother. He is pretty good at figuring people out. That’s why he likes you. He can tell there is no malice in your character.”

“Well, there’s only malice if someone shows me they deserve it,” Ryushiro said in a serious tone. “Tsuki-nii is the same. He may be a huge pain, but once you cross him and you cross him badly, he can become Hell on Earth. He’ll go to the ends of the Earth and back to protect his family and friends. Even if it means doing something that might be frowned upon. SAO turned him into that kind of a person. Though that’s not really a bad thing.” 

“I don’t think so,” Stallion replied as she walked out of the bathroom in a white, long-sleeved fishnet shirt that sat off the shoulders. Under it, she wore a purple halter that tied around her neck. For pants, she had on a pair of black jean shorts that were rolled up on the legs. She was bare-footed with no socks. 

Ryushiro looked over at her and sat up, giving her a smirk. “Hey. You look good.” He patted the spot on the bed next to him. 

She sat down next to him and looked around her room, then back to him. “You know we can redo the room to fit us both. I know you like to paint.” She pointed to the far corner of the room. “We can set up an area over there for you to paint or draw. We have to get you a dresser for your clothes and I can make room in the closet for you. I don’t have much in there anyway. I am not much of a dress wearer.” She chuckled. “Imagine that!”

He laughed and took her hand, pulling her closer so their legs were tangled together. “Sounds great. I don’t need much either. Small spaces and limited possessions are kind of the forte of Japan,” he grinned. “But who knows. Maybe material things will grow on me in this game. But an area for me to paint and draw sounds great.” 

Stallion smiled brightly as she looked over at the corner, imagining what they could do to the corner of the room for him. “Maybe I can pose for you one day.” Quickly she looked back at him, her cheeks red. “With my clothes on.”

Ryushiro laughed and held his hands up in surrender. “Hey. I said nothing about clothes off. Unless you want to.” Lowering his hands, he smiled at her in thought. After a moment, he looked down at their legs. He took one of her hands rubbing the backs of her fingers. “Speaking of which, I’ve been thinking. I’m not necessarily a lustful kind of guy. I mean, I’m still a virgin after all. But I’m not really sure what your kind of thoughts on that subject are. I mean, my brother already thinks we’ve done stuff,” he laughed, looking up at her with another smile. “But if you’re ever ready for that kind of thing… then don’t be afraid to talk to me about it. That’s all I wanted to say.” 

“I am sure you are aware I am a virgin as well, or at least from what I have told you about my love life you have guessed it.” She let their fingers slide together as their hands linked together. “I am curious about it, but I know when it’s time it will happen.” 

He smiled and leaned forward, kissing her softly as he squeezed her hands. Once he pulled away, he fell back onto the bed with a “thump,” spreading out with a sigh of content. “I love beds in VR. They’re so much more comfortable than my dorm room bed.” 

“So you have a bed like this?” Stallion asked, laying down next to him as she propped herself up on her elbow as she looked down at him. “Or is it a futon?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say my bed in my dorm is like this one,” he rubbed his arms on the mattress as if he was making snow angels. “It’s a hop skip and a jump away from a prison bed. Not comfortable, but not so uncomfortable that you can’t get used to it after a semester. It’s sleepable, but not preferable. It’s not a futon either.” He looked over at her. “Futons are actually very, very comfortable. If you can feel the floor under a futon, you have a bad one or one that’s too old. A good futon is one that’s thick and cushions your body perfectly. If you get thin ones, you can stack them. Also, they can be folded up and stored away to make room for other things. You’ll get to sleep on one when you visit Japan in the winter. I have one in my room at my parents' house, but Tsuki has always had a western bed.” 

“So do the hotels there have futons or are they western style beds?” She asked, playing with his snow-white hair.

“Depends on if you’re staying at a western-based hotel or a traditional Japanese inn. There are some in-betweens for those who don’t want too much of either, but there are perks to both. If you’re looking for luxury or something familiar, it’s best to go with something like Marriott or Hilton. But if you want something traditional and new, you should stay at an inn. Especially a rural one. They’re called ryokans. They almost always have hot springs and huge baths. Sometimes inside, sometimes outside. They have community areas and have traditional architecture with tatami and wooden floors and sliding doors. They usually have gardens too. The ryokans also give guests yukatas to wear, kind of like how a luxury hotel will give you a bathrobe, only with the yukatas you can wear them all throughout the inn. They even have games too.”

“Well, I want to experience Japan in its own original culture. So what about the food? Do the Inns have both Western and Japanese?”

“Depends on the inn. Some do have a limited selection of western foods. Most are purely Japanese. But you always get dinner and breakfast included in the price of your stay, and usually, they ask you what time you want to eat since they frown upon letting the food get cold or go to waste. Not to mention ryokans pride themselves on their food. That’s one of the main things you’ll see a ryokan advertise, with hot springs, baths, and other amenities being next in line. Historical landmarks and history also make for good advertisement. The oldest ryokan in Japan is also the oldest hotel in the world. It was founded in 705 and it still stands and operates, even today, though it has been renovated a couple times.” 

“Wow! That sounds awesome.” She quickly moved over the top of him swinging her leg over his hips to straddle him as she sat down on him, her hands on his chest. “I want to experience Japan as Japan. Not as Americans perceive it. And there are a few things I know I won’t leave without.” 

Ryushiro grinned, placing his hands on her hips. She was kind of heavy, but he didn’t care in the least. “Japan is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. There are many things in Japan you can’t get anywhere else. And that’s only if you’re considering the intangible things.” His smile faded a little. “To be honest, I’m a little terrified to see how SpeedRunner created Japan. I hope they had the decency to research it enough to do it justice. If they did, going there might be a good practice run for you. It would definitely cut down on the culture shock if they stuck to the realism of it.” 

“I have not been there yet, but I have been told by ones that have that it was beautiful.” She dropped down over him now as she moved her hands and rested to her elbows. “Will you stay with me at the Inn when I come to see you? I mean I know we probably won’t be in Tokyo long since we planned this trip for Hokkaido, but it would be nice to be with someone I know while I am there.” She told him as she hovered slightly above him, their eyes locking as they talked.

Ryushiro wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down on top of him more. “Of course. I wouldn’t leave you in Japan all by yourself. I’ll be there with you from start to finish. From Tokyo to Hokkaido and back.” He kissed her softly, pressing his forehead to hers. 

“If there is a finish,” She spoke softly. She giggled softly when he gave her a questioning look. “Well, I am 19--a legal adult in the States. Not sure about Japan…” She giggled softly. “If I fall in love with Japan as much as I have fallen in love with you. You never know. I might hang around.”

He paused for a moment before sitting up with her, keeping her in his lap. He placed both hands on either side of her face, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. He smiled warmly at her. “I love you too.” He leaned in to kiss her once again. 

Wrapping her arms around his neck she returned his kiss. When they parted from the kiss she smiled warmly at him. “I know it’s really soon to be telling you that I love you, but I would be lying if I said I like you a lot. Because it’s much more than that, and saying I adore you seems like a cheap shot at saying I love you, but I only like you in reality.” Her head tipped to one side. “Does that make sense?”

Ryushiro gave her a huge smile, chuckling softly. “Yes, that makes perfect sense.” He pulled her against him once more, pressing his forehead to hers and closing his eyes. “I feel the same. I didn’t expect my feelings to grow this fast either, but I sure as Hell am not complaining. I don’t want to be without you. And if that’s not love, then there is no such thing.” 

Her head nodded slightly. “If my car had emotions she would be jealous. Because I think of you more than I think of my car.” She giggled softly. “And right now that is kinda bad since she has to be put back together in less than a month.” 

He smirked at her, poking her cheek. “Hey, I’m just happy to be above the car and not below it. I know some couples are so married to their possessions or careers that they feel more for their job or possession than they do the person they supposedly want to spend the rest of their life with. I say if a person can’t honestly say, ‘I love my job, but I don’t love it more than I love you,’ then they don’t need to be with anyone until they can say that without a doubt.” 

“Agreed,” Stallion replied. “Not to change the subject, but what do you want to do now? We can cuddle here and talk or hit the living room with the big screen and cuddle on the couch and watch anime.”

“Anime sounds good,” he nodded. “I’ll spend a few more hours in-game before I log out for dinner, then I’ll be back later to help out in the garage.” 

She nodded and climbed off his lap standing in front of him. “At one you need to sign off and get some sleep.” When he started shaking his head she laid her finger over his lips. “Tell you what. You sign out at one your time to get some sleep and I will sign out and take a nap. When you wake up you can text me and we can meet back in-game, kay?”

He smiled and nodded, pulling her down for one last kiss. “Deal. Eight hours, then I’ll log back on. That should make it eight in the evening here. Will you be done with dinner by then?” 

“Mhmm, but I do have work the next day so I can’t stay on too late tonight. I have to be up by 7 tomorrow morning. I am not sure if they want to run qualifying passes tomorrow or if they will run them Saturday morning.” She tugged him up off the bed by his hands. “Sunday is my first run of the season.” 

“Then we won’t stay on long,” Ryushiro nodded. “I wanted to stay on just long enough to get a small taste of the races you took Tsuki and Kaori to the other day. We don’t have to stay the entire time.” He smiled and lifted her chin. “And good luck. Don’t forget to record it for me.” 

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about the recording part.” She giggled softly. “Dad has already bought a case of SanDisks for this year’s racing season.” She gave his lips a peck and turned quickly tugging him behind as she left the room to go to the living room. “You will have to find something to keep yourself entertained most of the day Sunday. I won’t be on till about 8 in the evening, US time.” 

“Well, it won’t be easy,” he grinned following her out, “but I’ll find something. Maybe I’ll roam around here in SRO for a bit. Explore, find some books to read, more clothes and whatnot. There’s still a lot I haven’t seen.” 

“Oooohh,” She looked back at him as they walked down the stairs to the foyer. “That’s a good idea. Hit the art supply store and we will get your place in the room set up Sunday evening. I will be too tired to work on the Stang. So we can tackle the room and get it set up. Maybe see if you can find a dresser.”

“You got it,” Ryushiro grinned. “Me and Tsuki are shopping masters. The only thing you have to be worried about is me getting too much stuff.” 

“Well, that’s one thing you don’t have to worry about with me. As a female, I didn’t acquire the shopping bug. Well…” She chuckled. “If it’s for a car that’s a different story. I can break the bank doing that.”

“Oh I can imagine,” he laughed. “I’m sure you could drop a few grand easily on cars and parts and whatnot. Just like I can with art supplies and clothes.” 

They came off the stairs into the foyer as she looked back at him again. “Well, what you see me in in-game is my attire IRL. Pretty dresses and accessories while working on cars don’t mix. And whites are a no-no.” She reached up and ruffled his snow-white hair with a giggle. “Which you learned the hard way the other day.” 

Ryushiro pouted, shaking his head. “Let’s never talk of that again. I don’t even want to remember it, let alone see motor oil again.” 

“Well, you’re not going to avoid it. So you just have to learn ways around it in how to keep it out. Though…” She stopped just inside the living room as she turned and took both his hands. “The way I have learned to keep whites clean…”

He grinned at her, squeezing her hands before lifting them up to kiss the backs. “Oh? How’s that?” 

“Two ways. One: Don’t try to avoid the dirt. It seems like the more you try to keep it clean the dirtier it gets. Two:” A smirk crossed her lips as she leaned in and kissed his cheek speaking softly. “Don’t wear it.” 

He laughed, shaking his head. “Oh yeah, sure. I’ll just shave my head and throw out all my pretty white clothes. I’d probably have an anxiety attack.” He sighed with a tight smile. “I’ll just play like Tsuki and wear a black jumpsuit and a black hat when I work on my car then. I won’t like it, but it’s better than looking like a walking, talking piece of charcoal.”

She grinned kissing his cheek again. “But you’ll be the hottest piece of charcoal around.”

“Ha. Puns,” he chuckled. “Clever.” 

They sat on the couch wrapped in a huge blanket, watching some of their favorite anime and drinking cocoa. When they got tired of the cocoa they made popcorn and grabbed sodas. They spent as much time as they could together before it was time to log off. 

\---

Kaori was logged in to SRO after waking up and having breakfast with Tsukiro. Once she logged in as Kitsune, she left the hotel in search of a way to make money other than racing. She knew a job like Ghost had gotten at Route 66 wouldn’t cut it, and there was no way she could get a job at a garage or auto shop. She didn’t have the experience for that. She also didn’t want to work in the retail stores. She hated that IRL as it was. 

She drove around downtown, looking at everything, waiting for something to come to her. When it did hit her, it came in the form of her finding an establishment labeled “The Grand Stallion Casino.” Her first reaction was amusement that Stallion had a casino named after her. Her second reaction was the realization that the quickest way to make money was a casino, provided she didn’t lose everything. 

Grinning, she parked in the casino’s parking lot and hopped out. Standing by her car, she changed into a dark violet halter top dress with a gold shawl, her hair tied up into a messy but elegant bun. She had no problems getting into the casino and exchanging ten grand of her Slips into chips. The chips had a horse head in the middle of them--the casino’s logo. It wasn’t long and waiters were asking her if she wanted a drink. Like most casinos, the drinks were free unless they were something super special, but even then they were cheap compared to bar standards. She ordered a screwdriver then walked over to one of several games she was good at: roulette. 

She and Tsukiro played mobile casino games pretty often, and both of them were fairly good at them. They knew when to lay down and they knew when to cash out. Tsukiro was better at blackjack and craps, but she scored big in roulette and poker. Tsukiro was just plain bad at poker faces, so he stayed away from the game. She on the other hand was not only good at bluffing and keeping a straight face, but she was also great at using her charms and good looks on the opposite sex. But right now she was not looking to try her hand at poker just yet. She had to test SRO’s casino gameplay before she gambled at anything bigger. 

She took her chips to the roulette table where the table was filled except for three spaces. She took a corner seat and waited until the next round before putting her chips on the board in increments of one hundred or five hundred, depending on how much weight she wanted to give each bet.

Roaming around the casino after playing a few hands of Blackjack, Grim came across two empty seats at the roulette table so he decided to see if his luck was still holding out and take a shot at a few turns of the wheel. Walking over he sat down next to a girl wearing a purple dress a gold shawl draped over her shoulders. 

“Last call to place your bets,” the croupier told the ones sitting at the table. 

Grim nodded at the man and slid his chips across the table. “Ten thousand on 15 black.” 

Kitsune waited until the bets were called off and the roulette ball spun around the spinner. It slowed down until it landed in a slot. She had placed the bulk of her bets on black and a few on odd and a few on each of the number groups. When the ball landed in a slot the dealer called out the winning number. 

“Fifteen,” the croupier called out, placing the marker on the stack of chips on the number, and pulling out chips and paying everyone out or taking chips away. 

“Wow,” Kitsune whistled, looking at the stack of chips that the man who betted the exact number won. She turned to look at him. “That was lu--Oh! Grim!”

“Kit! Hey,” Grim exclaimed looking her way as he pulled his winnings toward him. “Lady Luck been smiling down on you today too?”

“Don’t know. Just got here,” she giggled and collected her chips. “I made a little profit on that one. Usually, I play until I get a big win, then I move to something else.” She switched places so she was standing next to him. “So was that your biggest win tonight?”

“Nope, made a haul off the Blackjack table.” He grinned madly. “Walking out of here with a cool 60 grand today. Oh sorry, 70.” He looked at the new 10 thousand he just won. 

Kitsune smiled up at him. “Any tips for me? Are the casinos in this game fair, or do you have to know how to work them?” 

“A little of both. Just know when to hold them. Know when to fold them--”

“Know when to walk away and know when to run.” A guy at the table sang out as everyone started to chuckle.

Kitsune laughed, turning back to Grim. “So are you done for the night, or you hanging around for a bit?”

“I’ll be here until my luck runs dry. Fixing up a new ride.” Grim confided in her.

“Then I’m sticking with you, cause I need some upgrades too,” she laughed, wrapping her arms around one of his. She rubbed his bicep. “Maybe your luck will rub off onto me.” 

Grim chuckled. “We will see.” He looked back at the table, his first ten thousand still sitting in front of him.

“Place your bets,” the dealer called out.

Grim slid his chips forward stopping them on the red 3. “Ten thousand on red 3 for this guy.”

Kitsune placed half of her winnings on the one to eighteen slot and the other half on red. “After that win, I’m following you. Just not exactly,” she giggled. “That would just be too good to be true.” 

Grim nodded with a wide smile. “Play’em how you like, Kit, and let it fall where it falls as long as it falls on my number.” He rubbed his hands together. “Spin it!”

“That’s why I’m following you,” she laughed. 

The croupier spun the ball in the wheel. Everyone watched the ball spin for a bit before the croupier called out for last bets. On instinct, Kitsune placed another five hundred on the 3. If Lady Luck really was following Grim that night, she wanted in on it. 

“Three,” the dealer called out, placing the marker on all winning bets. He paid them out as Kitsune was wiggling around in her seat clapping her hands giggling happily.

Grim chuckled. “You better sit still on your stool or we will be spending your winnings on a hospital visit.”

Kitsune giggled at him, sitting up straight on her stool. “See? I told you I was following you. Now you’re stuck with me till you decide to leave. And hey, if you help me win big again, I’ll even treat you to a meal again. Anywhere you want.” 

“How much you need to fix up the Toyota?” Grim asked, taking his winnings and slipping them into inventory. The ten thousand still sitting on the table.

Kitsune did the same, depositing the profit and leaving her original ten grand on the table. “Torque told me about 8 grand. I have enough now, but I don’t want upgrades to leave me in a deficit. After all, I still have to survive in this game.” She laughed. “Which means gas, food, hotels, and whatnot. So I’m here to make a big chunk of profit to make up for what I spent the past week. Also, I want to buy a house. Not a huge one, but one big enough for me, Ryushiro, and Tsukiro, that way we have a place to spawn and keep our cars.”

Grim looked over at her with a raised brow. “Eh, have you talked to Ryushiro as of late?” 

“Hm? No, why? Not since yesterday.” She blinked at him and sat up straight. “Did something happen?! Is he not playing the game anymore?!” 

“You might want to open your panel and take a good look at his Avi in your friends list,” Grim told her as the dealer called out last call. He divided his chips into two stacks of five thousand, sliding one stack to the black, the other to odd.

Kitsune divided hers into three, placing one on black, one on odd, and one on the last group of 25 to 36. She figured since the last few were lower numbers, the number generator was probably due for a high number. Once her bets were placed, she opened her panel, going to her friends list. 

It was easy to find Ryushiro since her list was still short. When she found his name, she saw it. The Thundering Horses insignia next to his name. Her eyes bugged out of her head. “What?! When did-- How did--” 

Grim shrugged. “Couldn’t tell ya, but if he is part of their team I am sure they are looking to add you and Shadow. Might want to contact them before you go sinking money into a place to stay because the residence of the Thundering Horses is Da’ Bomb!”

Kitsune blinked in surprise, taking her drink in her hand and sipping it. “Wow. That was fast. They must really like him. I know Stallion was fond of him when she met him and they spent quite a bit of time together that day.” 

“Thirty-one!” The dealer called out, placing the marker on top of the space. He began dishing out and taking chips away. 

“Who knows, but I would get with them and see if they offer up the same for you and Shadow. Which I am sure they will.” He chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “At least for you anyway.”

Kitsune laughed, shaking her head. “Shadow is a handful alright, but he’s my handful. So if they offer it to me but not him, I will have to talk it over with him before I say yes or no. He’s still my boyfriend and I wouldn’t feel right if one of us was welcome and not the other. Regardless, I don’t think that will happen. He got along with all of them pretty well… Well, almost all of them,” she giggled. 

“It’s not his personality that they are looking at. It’s his seriousness to race. He likes it, that is for sure, but I am sure they saw what I saw. He is not one that is going to take to it like you and Ryushiro have.” Grim placed his winnings in his inventory placing the two piles of chips back together.

“Well, he hasn’t really had the chance to enjoy it yet. Or decide how far he wants to take it. Dragon Lance needs him more than SRO does. I’m sure you of all people understand that given recent developments.” Kitsune placed her winnings in inventory as well. “Even so, I’m sure he would understand perfectly that his time for joining a team isn’t right now. Once Dragon Lance is safe, he’ll be back. I know he will. He enjoys a new game just as much as the rest of us. New things give the brain a rush of serotonin and oxytocin, which is why they’re so addicting.” She grinned up at Grim. “So he’ll be back for sure.” 

“Oh!” Grim responded as he pushed his ten thousand to black 13. “Let Moonshine know I got that information to my uncle. He said he should have something on it in a couple of days.”

She blinked at him. “Um, okay. I don’t know what those words mean, but I’m guessing you have some sort of arrangement with him about DL, so I’ll pass the message.” She laughed, shaking her head. “I’ve been so into this game recently that I’ve been out of the loop with Ryushiro and even my own boyfriend now. Looks like we need to have a family dinner again soon.” 

Grim looked at her shocked. “A family what?” He chuckled. “I have not had one of those since I moved out.”

Kitsune poked him in the arm hard, giving him an amused but pointed look. “Shame on you Grim Reaper. Even Death needs family. You should have dinner with your family at least once a week. The three of us do. And usually, we like to have breakfast together as often as possible. Though it has been a little difficult recently with everything we have going on.” She crossed her arms under her breasts, looking at him again. “Still. Family is important. You should always make time for family.” 

“I do! When they call and say ‘Hey! You still alive over there? Why don’t you come visit?’ Also, I went to see Ava last night and had a fried chicken leg.” He shrugged. “It was after dinner, but it still counts, right?”

She punched him lightly with a laugh. “Nooo! The point is you go and have a full meal and be with your family longer than just long enough to have a leftover chicken leg and to say hi to your sister.” 

“Ooohhh, so that’s how that works,” he joked with a laugh.

She laughed again. “Yes, that’s how that works.” For the last call, she was going to put ten grand on thirteen, but she froze when she saw the number and instead put it on sixteen. 

“Well, your dinner advice was better than your advice in drifting--turn left to go right,” he chuckled softly and looked over at her with a grin. “What’s wrong? Don’t trust the day I was born?”

Kitsune shook her head with a grin. “It’s Tsukiro’s and my rule of thumb. Don’t put chips on thirteen. Don’t hit the cards in blackjack when you have thirteen. And always fold when you have aces and threes in poker.” 

Suddenly the dealer called out the winning number. “Sixteen!” He placed the marker on top of Kitsune’s chips then dealt her out. 

Kitsune smirked at him, taking all thirty thousand. “See? Never bet thirteen.”

Grim stood from the table and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Good call, but I am out. Have a good ride.” He stood and walked off as his hands slid into his pocket.

Kitsune laughed, waving at Grim as he took off. She turned to the dealer. “I’m out too.” 

As Kitsune ran up to his side he looked over at her. He looked over at her and smiled. “You sure you want to be hanging out with me? After all, I was born on a bad day.”

“Well, unless you were born on Friday the thirteenth,” she giggled. “We’re good.” When he smirked at her like a crazy person, her smile fell into a frown. Her eyes popped out of her head. “WAIT! NO! Are you serious?!!”

“Why do you think my username is Grim Reaper?” Grim asked her with an evil chuckle and wild eyes.

Kitsune smiled, shaking her head. “Then I’m going to start calling you Shinigami-sama.” 

“Only if I can be Captain Kenpachi Zaraki. He is a beast!” Grim commented with a chuckle.

“Knock yourself out,” she giggled. “But I am and always will be Yoruichi Shihoin. And of course Ryushiro is Toshiro Hitsugaya. I mean, who else would he be? He was literally born for that role. From ‘Shiro’ to ‘White Dragon’ and even the white hair. All he needs are teal blue contacts… Well, and to be cut off at the knees.” She giggled madly.

Grim chuckled. “We could dunk Shadow’s head in orange paint and he can be Ichigo. He’s got the personality through and through.” 

“Really? That’s funny because Dainosuke-otosan is a lot like Byakuya Kuchiki, but without the attitude,” Kitsune smiled. “He’s a very noble man. Though he said in his youth he wasn’t too much different from Tsukiro.” 

“Well, Byakuya was not always a stick in the mud. At least not until his wife passed,” Grim made comment.

“Very true,” she nodded. “I imagine Dainosuke-otosan would be similar if he lost Aoitsuki-okaasan.” 

“I think any man that truly loved his significant other would turn sour,” Grim nodded in his thought. 

“Agreed, and if he doesn’t then he never truly loved them to begin with,” she nodded. She opened her panel and looked at the time. “Anyway, I made a pretty good profit and I want to head over to either the garage or the house, so I will talk to you later, Grim. Will you be racing tonight?” 

“You know I will,” he grinned at her. “So I will see you there.” He patted her upper back with a warm smile. 

She gave him a quick hug. “See you later. And hopefully, in the next few days, my car will be even better. Then maybe I can start making larger bets.” 

“Well, just remember not to get too lost in the winning. It can hook you before you know it and it’s harder than Hell to get out of. Only use this place when it’s a must.” He warned her, he then turned to walk off. 

“Oh,” he turned and looked at her over his shoulder with a crazy grin. “Don’t get lost in the Thundering Horses domicile.” His arms spread out, his eyes widening. “It’s huge.” 

She giggled and waved to him. “I won’t. See you later!” 

She cashed out her winnings at the window then exited the casino, heading back to her car. 

\---

Kitsune arrived at the Thundering Horses house at about eleven in the morning in-game time. Like Grim had said, the house was enormous. She gawked at it as she walked to the door. She knew most of the team was here, including Stallion and even Ryushiro. She had a lot of questions. 

She pressed the doorbell button and waited until someone came to the door. 

High Roller was the one that got to the door first. Though it was not like they were all running for it at the same time, on the contrary, no one was moving. Opening the door, seeing Kitsune, a wide smile crossed his lips.

“Just the little lady we were waiting on to show.” He stepped aside and motioned for her to enter. “Though we did think we would be seeing you at the shop and not the house.” 

“I logged on early, though I did hit one of the casinos for a little bit,” she smiled, walking in. “And I checked my friends list and the search said everyone was here, so,” she giggled, shrugging. “Why head to the shop if no one was there?” 

She was about to walk in further when she stopped and tilted her head. She looked back to High Roller. “Wait. You said you all were waiting on me? For what?”

“Well, your brother in law”--he pointed toward the living room--“took the extended invite to join the team, but of course it was for all three of you. He just beat you to the acceptance,” Whistle told her as he walked in the foyer.

Kitsune smiled at him. “So I was informed and then saw it on my friends list. Though I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. Ryushiro turned out to have talent, after all. As for me, I’m very flattered you’d invite me, and I humbly accept.” She bowed slightly to him. She glanced towards the living room, hearing My Hero Academia playing on the TV, though she didn’t see Ryushiro. She turned back to Whistle with a grin. “Did he confiscate your TV for anime already?”

Whistle chuckled. “I can’t say I blame him. It’s like being in a theater, but it’s not just him.” 

Kitsune blinked. “You guys having a marathon or something?” Now that she thought about it, she did smell freshly popped popcorn. 

“Not us,” High Roller claimed. “Ryushiro and Stallion. They have been cuddled up together for the last few hours watching that craziness.”

Kitsune once again blinked. Stallion and Ryushiro? Cuddled up on the couch? Without another word, she moved into the living room. And lo and behold, the two in question were on the couch wrapped in a huge blanket with a bowl of popcorn. Ryushiro was on Stallion’s right with one arm around her and the other on top of the blanket, supporting the popcorn bowl. And he was kissing her. 

Her jaw dropped. “When the Hell did this happen?!” She gawked at them as their heads spun around. Kitsune pointed at them. “When the… How the… HUH?!” She waved her hands around in shock. “What the Hell did I miss?”

Ryushiro chuckled at Kitsune. “Tsuki-nii didn’t tell you?”

Kitsune’s eyes grew wider. She took a step back and crossed her arms. “He knew about this, and he didn’t tell me?” 

Ryushiro grimaced and turned back to the screen, grabbing a handful of popcorn. “Uh oh. Niisan is gonna get it.” 

Stallion was not sure what to say as she looked on at Kitsune, so she smiled at her and asked. “Want to join us and watch some anime?”

Kitsune huffed and walked over to the couch. “Oohhh, you just wait till I log out. No way in hell is he gonna get away with not telling me about your first girlfriend.” She plopped down on the couch, pouting. “How could he forget to tell me!?” She reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn for herself. 

“Well, in his defense--” Stallion stopped talking abruptly as both Kitsune and Ryushiro looked at her like she sprouted another head. “What!? I can defend him even if he annoys me.”

“Score one for Tsuki-nii,” Ryushiro laughed. 

“Hey, when he’s right he’s right,” Kitsune gave a half smile. She turned to Stallion. “Anyway, I want to hear what your defense is for him.” 

Stallion giggled softly, shaking her head as she continued. “From what Ryushiro has told me about what happened in Dragon Lance. I am sure he pretty much has a one-track mind at the moment.”

“So he found this out in DL?” When Ryushiro nodded she sighed and leaned back. “Well, if that’s the case, then I guess I can go a little easy on him.”

“If it makes you feel better, I made him pass out,” Ryushiro grinned at Kitsune.

“What?! How?!”

“I accidentally made and intentionally let him think we had sex,” he grinned, popping popcorn into his mouth. 

Kitsune’s mouth dropped. “Ryushiro!”

“What?!”

“Did you?!”

“Did I have sex or did I play a trick on him?”

“Ryushiro!!!” 

“Okay, okay! No to the first, yes to the second,” Ryushiro raised his hands at her. “Honest.” 

Stallion chuckled. “It's what he gets for having his mind in the gutter, or not listening to Ryushiro with what he was telling him. Then again there was a lot going on in Dragon Lance.”

“Well…” Ryushiro made a face. “It was ninety percent my fault this time. I told him ‘who said it was just a date’ and I made a face at him. So…” He grinned. “Yeah, it was mostly my fault.” 

“But that could have meant anything, just not ‘we had sex’.” 

“YOU DID WHAT!?” Whistle walked into the room as Stallion jumped up nearly spilling the popcorn if Ryushiro would not have caught it.

Ryushiro placed the popcorn on the table and hit the floor, crawling around to the side of the couch on all fours. He shook his head, whispering to himself, “nope nope nope.” 

“NO NO NO NO NO!!” Stallion quickly spouted out. “It was something Shadow thought happened.”

“Oh,” Whistle said calmly as he slowed his roll toward the couch. 

Stallion looked around wondering where Ryushiro took off as she looked to Kitsune. “Did he sprout wings and fly off?”

Kitsune gave her an amused look then reached down over the side of the couch, grabbing Ryushiro by the collar. She pulled him up so his head cleared the top, up to his shoulders. His face looked like he had seen a ghost and he was trembling visibly. 

“I saw my life flash before my eyes…” He said softly. “It was very boring…”


	12. Chapter Twelve

It was several hours later at nine-fifteen at night in SRO when Ryushiro logged back in. He had kept his promise to Stallion and logged out at one pm and slept for nearly eight hours before waking up and eating a quick breakfast and showering possibly the fastest he’d ever had. When he spawned in, he spawned exactly like Stallion had mentioned before with his arms around her. When he opened his eyes, she was laying there smiling at him, having already logged in. 

“Hey you,” he smiled, pulling her close and kissing her forehead.

“You sleep well?” She kissed his cheek snuggling in closer to him. 

“I did. Did you enjoy your nap?”

“Mhmm, though my parents were a little weirded out by it.” Stallion chuckled lightly.

He smiled and lifted his head so he could lean it against his arm. “Did you tell them about us? Or are you going to wait a while?” 

“I did not have to tell them. My mom knew the second she saw me after our date.”

Ryushiro chuckled. “Saw right through you, huh? What did they think about the long distance?”

“They really didn’t say anything about it. Just told me to be careful,” Stallion commented. “I think they are thinking because it’s a VR thing it’s nothing all too serious.” 

He nodded, running his hands through her hair. “That’s understandable. I’m sure for every successful online relationship there’s at least nine that don’t work out. But we’ll just have to prove to them that we can be committed to each other.” 

Stallion nodded. “You already booted my car out of first place in my heart. So if that don’t tell them something then I don’t know what will.”

He laughed and leaned in, kissing her once more. “Speaking of cars, I believe we have some races to get to. And of course, we have to test out that turbo we installed.”

Stallion pouted. “I know, I just wanted a few more minutes alone with you.”

Ryushiro smirked and grabbed her by the arms. He rolled over onto his back pulling her on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her and captured her lips in a kiss. “Then we’ll stay here for another ten minutes. How’s that sound?”

“Works for me,” she smiled brightly, giving him another kiss. “So you think you're ready to take on the big boys tonight?”

“Of course,” he grinned. “After all, I have you teaching me.” He ran his hands up and down her sides, from her hips to her waist, and up her back before moving back down. He committed every curve to memory. “Which reminds me. Will I be having you as a co-pilot too, or are you taking off the training wheels early with me?” 

“Do you want me to ride with you tonight, or do you feel confident enough? Because I will if you want me to.” She kissed the tip of his nose. 

“Well, I’m confident enough to drive myself.” He moved his hands to her face, pulling her back down towards him. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you in the car anyway,” he smirked. 

“The extra weight will just slow you down.” She smiled back at him.

“I think the correct answer to that is, you’re not heavy and no you won’t,” he laughed, kissing all over her face. “But it’s up to you whether you ride with me or not.” 

“Are you kidding? Of course I want to ride with a winner. Like I told your sister in law. I am allergic to losing,” Stallion giggled softly as he kissed her face. 

He smirked and rolled them over so he was hovering over her. He pinned her arms to the bed gently. “Then that settles it. You’re my good luck charm.” 

“Ha!” She exclaimed softly. “Am I fluffy and a foot?”

“Nope, but you’re just as cute,” Ryushiro leaned down and kissed her neck. “Well, your skin is soft, so that counts for something.” 

“It’s all that motor oil I nearly bathe in every day,” she confirmed with a giggle.

He blinked with a look of disbelief. “... Really? It does that? Wouldn’t motor oil be bad for your skin?” 

She giggled again wrapping her arms around his neck pulling him closer. “Yes silly. I am teasing.” She pressed her lips to his. 

“Hey, no taking advantage of my gullibility,” he chuckled, putting more of his weight on her. He kissed her more deeply this time, moving her legs to either side of his hips. His hands roamed up and down her legs, moving to her hips. His lips left her mouth to find her throat, kissing and gently sucking.

She giggled as a tingle coursed down her spine. “I can’t help myself. It’s part of my personality.” She shivered lightly as he kept kissing her neck. “It’s like when I ask for Muffler bearings and Blinker fluid when I see a new person working at my normal stop for car parts.” 

“Well, I don’t know what muffler bearings are,” he laughed, slipping his fingers underneath her fishnet shirt, “but if anyone thinks blinker fluid is a thing, they need to go back and take a middle school science class again.”

Stallion moaned softly as his soft fingertips caressed up under her shirt. “Well, Muffler bearings are a thing. They’re more--” her words hitched as his fingertips caressed across her stomach as she bit her bottom lip. “Of an exhaust donut. Your BMW as one.” Her words but a whisper. 

Ryushiro hummed with a smirk on his face. His hands traveled further up her sides, watching her reactions. “That’s nice, but car parts aren’t nearly as interesting compared to the sound you just made.” 

She tilted her head to one side with a small grin. “You like to hear me moan do you?”

“Well of course.” He leaned down back to her neck, kissing again as he moved his hands around to her back. His fingers traced her spine. “What man wouldn’t like to hear his girl moan?”

She hummed lightly, a moan mingling within it. As she pulled him closer pressing their bodies closer together as well as their lips meeting again and again. She let her hands caress down his back and up under his shirt when they found the hem of said shirt.

When he felt her hands on his skin, he hummed against her neck. He had never been touched like this nor touched someone else. It was an amazing sensation. It sent electricity up and down his body. 

And then he got an idea. 

He opened his panel and went to the settings menu, finding the sensitivity setting. He smirked down at her. “I have an idea. You thinking what I’m thinking?” 

She smiled shyly. “If it’s to stay in bed and be with you? Yes.”

He chuckled and kissed her softly. “That can be arranged. Though I was thinking more along the lines of turning the sensitivity to max. Imagine how that would feel.” 

“Ryushiro!” She grabbed his hand as it lifted to swipe open his settings. “That’s too dangerous! What if we forget to turn it down and something happens tonight?”

Ryushiro frowned, lowering his hand. “That’s… true.” He closed his panel and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.” He caressed her face and kissed her again. 

She trembled in his arms as they kissed, his hands caressing her body once more, slowly they pulled slightly back from the kiss as she smiled at him. “Maybe a sticky on the door to remind us might help?”

He smiled half-heartedly, shaking his head. “No. It was a dumb idea. I don’t even know why I said it. Greed, most likely.” He shook his head again and pulled her closer. “Some stupid sensitivity setting won’t matter when we can meet without the screens and the FullDive.” 

“Something to look forward to,” she told him, kissing his ear lobe as her hands caressed up his back.

He smiled and nuzzled his face into her neck. He pulled back and kissed her yet again then placed his hands on her face. “I love you, Rain. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Ryushiro,” she whispered in his ear.

He brushed her hair back with his fingers and kissed her forehead once more. “Should we go, or do you want to stay a little longer?” 

She looked into his eyes and smiled warmly. “I think we should get going. If we stay like this much longer something might happen that would get us both killed. And the thought of burning to death in a car crash sounds more appealing than getting reamed by four people for the actions that might take place here.”

Ryushiro laughed and nodded. “Agreed. I was already scared to death once. I’d rather not make it twice.” He lifted her up into his lap then stood up from the bed, spinning her around.

She squealed, hanging on tightly to his neck. “You’re going to make us dizzy.” 

He set her down with a laugh. “You ready to go burn some rubber?” 

Her head nodded quickly. “I need to run the GTR tonight and get a better feel for it, so yeah.” She walked toward the chair in her room and sat down to put on her shoes. “I got to get the feel of that gas pedal before QPs this weekend.” 

“QPs? Is that something in game or IRL?” Ryushiro blinked at her as she did the same. 

“IRL and QP is Qualifying Pass,” Stallion explained as she slipped into her last shoe.

“So you’re doing qualifiers with a new car?” He looked at her with concern. “Is that dangerous?” 

She stood and walked toward him as she stopped beside him, her hand lifting to his shoulder as she kissed the top of his head. “Not yet. The car is still pretty much factory. They are working me into it slowly. They said when it’s complete it should run the quarter in high 4s to low 3s.” 

He took her hands and squeezed, looking up at her. “Just be careful. I trust your abilities, but still. I’ve been in this game long enough to know that cars are a beast all their own.” He kissed the backs of her hands. “Be safe.” 

“Don’t worry. It’s a tortoise right now. It runs the quarter in the low 12s at 122 MPH. It’s the new hot rod for the shop I work at. Mr. Hall picked it up rather cheap since the guy owed him a bundle.” Stallion told him as he stood up from the bed’s edge. 

He nodded with a smile. “Like I said. I trust you. You know infinitely more than I do so…” He chuckled. He reached out for her hand. “Ready to go?”

“Mhmm,” she hummed as the two of them walked toward the door of her room to leave.

About twenty-five minutes later, they arrived at the same spot Stallion took Kitsune and Shadow to. She rode with Ryushiro in his BMW while Kitsune followed them in her Toyota. When Ryushiro was parked, he went around to the other side and opened the door for Stallion, holding his hand out to her with a smile.

“Such a gentleman,” Trigger poked fun at Ryushiro.

Charger nudged Trigger in the side and chuckled. “Maybe we can get him to open doors for us and help us out.”

“Shut up,” Stallion told them as she let Ryushiro help her from the car. 

Ryushiro smiled at all of them, holding Stallion’s hand in his. “Our father had us opening doors and carrying groceries at five. If you met Dainosuke Ashimitsu, you’d think he was born in the thirteen hundreds or something… Well, that might be an exaggeration,” he chuckled. “But otosan is a character alright.”

Both Charger and Trigger looked at one another with an odd expression on their face. “Otosan? I thought he was talking about his dad?” Trigger questioned as Charger shrugged.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” 

Ryushiro laughed, shaking his head. “Sorry, sorry. That was my fault. Otosan is ‘father’ in Japanese. Okaasan is ‘mother’ and niisan is ‘older brother.’” 

“Sure, what you said,” Charger replied, waving a carefree hand in Ryushiro’s direction.

Stallion wrapped her arm around Ryushiro’s waist, kissing his cheek. “They’re uneducated buffoons. Ignore them.” 

Ryushiro smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s okay. Japanese is hard. I wouldn’t expect anyone to commit those words to heart. Considering it’s hard enough for most to pronounce my name.” 

“Pfft, wait until you start learning English.” Stallion commented.

“Yeah, we have many single words that have 3 or 4 definitions, and they are spelled the same as well.” Torque told him. “You got a pain in the ass road to walk if you're wanting to learn English.” She patted him on his shoulder. “I will pray for you.” 

“Oh yeah?” Kitsune laughed. “In Japanese, a single kanji can have just as many pronunciations for the same exact meaning, or different meanings and different kanji for the same exact pronunciation. And how a kanji is pronounced also depends on whether it’s at the beginning of a word or the end.” She patted Torque’s shoulder. “So if you ever decide to learn Japanese, I’ll pray for you too.” 

“Nah! Hell! No! I have a hard enough time with English. Thanks anyway.” Torque chuckled.

Ryushiro laughed and looked at Stallion. “So, how do I go about scoring a race?”

“Send out a challenge. Tell someone you want to race and see what comes back.” Frogger informed him. “You want me to see what I can find for you until you get the hang of it? I will be sure to match your car with your challenger’s.” 

Ryushiro nodded. “That would be great. Thanks.”

“You got it,” Frogger replied as she took a sip from her soda, walking away.

“Let’s go hang out with the others until they get things set up.” Stallion tugged him gently forward as she walked toward her brother and the others. 

They moved their way through the garage towards where Whistle and the others had their cars parked with the hoods open. A few of them were tinkering under the hood. Others were talking to strangers that had walked up to them to chat. 

“This place is really alive,” Ryushiro commented as he looked around. He looked to Stallion. “Do they usually have food or food trucks in the racing area?” 

“No, you want food or drink you need to bring it with you,” Stallion informed him.

“HEY! Baby Dragon,” High Roller called out to him.

When Ryushiro turned, he saw High Roller with three cans of sodas in his arms--Pepsi, Coke, and A&W root beer. 

“Take your pick,” High Roller lifted up the three cans in his hands. 

Ryushiro took the root beer, thanking High Roller, and popped the tab, holding the can up before taking a drink. 

Kitsune gave him a disgusted look. “I don’t know how you and Tsukiro can stand that crap. It tastes like medicine!” 

“It’s sugary and buttery and tastes like vanilla,” he smiled, holding up the can to look at it. “A&W and Mugs are the best. Barqs tastes awful.” He wrinkled his nose at the blue can. “I hate Pepsi though. Coke is good, but it’s a bit too strong sometimes. And Dr. Pepper can be hard to choke down.” 

“Root Beer is not so bad but my favorite is Cardinal Red Cream soda,” Stallion confirmed.

“Pepsi,” Whistle lifted his bottle of soda.

Kitsune shook her head at all of them with a smile. “I will stick with my fruit sodas, thank you. Japanese melon soda for me.” 

Stallion smiled at her. “Well, if I am not drinking soda I am drinking tea, so hopefully that balances me out.”

As she looked back to Ryushiro, Frogger walked back up to the group with a wide smile. “Got a biter, and once the roads are clear. Sergio said he would put you up first.”

“Alright,” Ryushiro crossed his arms with a smirk. “Welp, time for my debut.”

“Don’t get too cocky, Dragon Boy,” Charger told him poking him in the shoulder. “Overconfidence will get you killed in this business.”

“Leave him alone,” Stallion quipped, shoving Charger slightly. 

Ryushiro smiled, waving his hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t confuse my confidence for pride. No dumb amateur moves on my part.” 

Whistle patted his shoulder. “We all make mistakes. Just make sure that mistake don’t cost you or someone else their life.”

Ryushiro shook his head sternly with a frown. “Never. Not in game or IRL.” 

Whistle looked pointedly at Ryushiro and nodded as he walked away. “Good luck out there.”

As Whistle walked off, Speedstar, a friend of Sergio’s, stepped out to where most could see him, his arm turning circles above his head as he announced. “Load’em up! All’s clear on the street.” 

“Alright! Let’s go!” Ryushiro pumped his fist in the air. 

Kitsune laughed, shaking her head. “Someone is excited.” 

“I am sure he is. Everyone in your group has made a pass but him,” Stallion replied as they walked toward Ryushiro’s car, her and Ryushiro hand in hand.

Once everyone was packed up and ready to roll, Ryushiro pulled out and followed the line of cars out of the garage and down the road to the racing spot. He was somewhere towards the end, so the line of parking spaces next to the road they were going to use for racing was already packed. Thankfully since he was up first, he didn’t have to find a parking place right away. He followed the guy known as Speedstar’s hands as he waved him on towards the start of the drag strip. 

“Any final tips for me?” He grinned at Stallion. 

She looked over at him and smiled. “Don’t hesitate.” She leaned in and kissed him for good luck. Sitting back she looked ahead of them as Speedstar walked toward them. “I am letting you do it all.” She looked over at him once more. “Only because I know you can.”

“Training wheels off already,” Ryushiro chuckled. “Guess I have the talent for this.” 

Walking up to the car, Speedstar patted the door panel and poked his head in the window. “Transfer the 3k to Sergio.” 

“You got it,” Ryushiro opened his panel and went to the friends page where the search bar was located. He typed in Sergio’s username and tapped the send button, putting in 3,000 Slips. He hit send and turned back to Speedstar. “Good to go?” 

Speedstar nodded, patting the door panel once more as he stood erect to walk away. “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Ryushiro said to him as he walked off. As they waited for the go-ahead to pull up to the starting line, Ryushiro turned to Stallion. “You said this car had space for another turbo. How much did the charger and the kit cost you the other day?”

“We had the turbo laying around the shop, but a turbocharger for this with everything. Normally runs about 700 Slips.” 

His eyes widened at the price. “Really? I thought it would be at least a few thousand. If that’s the case, I could purchase another one with my winnings.” He hummed in thought then looked back to her. “Any other recommendations on what to do next as far as upgrades, or would everything else be too far out of price range?” 

“Well, if we would not have had the one laying around you would have dropped about 2k on the kit and that’s with the chargers.” She looked over at him with a grin. “So you got lucky.” She looked back out the windshield seeing Frogger step between the cars. 

“Once we get the second turbo on here. We will see what else you can handle with the simulators first to see what our next upgrade will be.” 

Ryushiro nodded as they waited for Frogger’s signals. It wasn’t long and Frogger raised her arms. Both he and his opponent revved their engines. They waited, watching her intently. When she dropped her arms, both cars shot forward. 

The two cars sped down the strip nearly nose to nose. It was so close Stallion could not tell who was ahead of who. As they were about to enter the last bit of the stretch and Ryushiro was about to bump it up into drive she placed her hand over his, stopping him from bumping it up. “Floor it!” She exclaimed. As soon as he did, his car started to pull forward. At that moment, Stallion pushed his hand on the shifter up pulling the car into drive as it lunged forward. 

At the last few seconds, Ryushiro stayed ahead long enough to cross the finish line first, though only by a few inches. He let out a loud “whoo!” as he slowed down enough to turn on the side road. The crowd watching erupted into applause and cheers. 

“Looks like I’m getting that second turbocharger,” he smirked at Stallion.

Stallion giggled as her head nodded slowly. “I think you can handle two turbos.” 

He smiled at her and held her hand as they made their way to the starting line to collect his bet money. When they stepped out of the car, everyone that was nearby congratulated him, patting him on the back and high fiving him. Sergio transferred the money to him and the two of them hopped back in the BMW so he could park. 

Once they stepped out again, he took her hand once more. “Since you’ll be driving a new car, it’s probably not wise for me to be in the car with you during your race, huh?” 

Stallion shook her head. “Racing with a co-pilot is a no-no IRL. It throws off the weight of the car making it react differently, and it endangers three lives instead of two.” She smiled, her head bobbing. “But mostly it throws the weight of the car off.”

He grinned at her, poking her cheek. “Hey. You callin’ me fat?” 

She giggled nodding her head. “Sorry Shiro, even a feather is fat in racing. Every ounce counts when it comes to top speed.”

Ryushiro nodded, with an understanding smile on his face. “Which is why race cars get all the guts and stuffing ripped out when they first get their makeover. Take out all the fluff so you can add the good stuff.” 

She giggled softly, her head shaking and nodding. “If that’s how you want to describe it, go for it.”

“Hey! I thought it was a good analogy!” He laughed. He looked around at the street racing scene he had been presented with. “Is it a lot like this IRL? Street racing I mean. Is it always this wild?” 

Stallion shook her head. “No, the racing is very discrete. The parking and waiting for the challenge, yes, but the second, two drivers want to race. Those two cars go out with a couple more drivers to witness. There have been times a handful roll out to watch the race”--she looked around at the crowd that was VR racing--“but it is nothing like this IRL. At least not where I race.” She looked over at Ryushiro. “Now in other places for street racing, I could not tell you.” 

He hummed, looking around. “It’s kind of a bummer that movies romanticize things so much, but I guess if they didn’t no one would watch them.” 

“It’s a fantasy lifestyle,” she smiled as she looked around again at the crowd. “But at the strip or the circle track it’s crazy. It is really hard to keep a level, clear mind. Especially if you have fans. Hearing them call out your name and cheering.” She smiled brightly with a touch of excitement in her eyes. “It can really go to a person's head. A lot of drivers forget that in racing it’s a 50/50 deal. 50% car, 50% drivers. You can have a good car and a crappy driver or vice versa and you won’t win a single race.” She looked to Ryushiro. “And you have to know the car you drive. Only then you know how hard you can push it on the track.” 

Ryushiro nodded, taking in everything she said. “I don’t think I could do this IRL, but it’s fun to pretend in VR.” He smiled at her. “I’d be much more content with watching you IRL.” 

“Well, it’s not for everyone.” She paused in thought as her head tipped to one side as she looked at him as they walked to a spot to watch the racing. “You know, in reality. I can’t remember how I got into this. I know I have a love for cars, I always have. I guess it was just something I was good at from the day I started driving, and it just took off from there. Somewhere though someone stuck a bottle of NOS on me and the next thing I knew I was one of the top racers on the strip.”

Ryushiro laughed at the image of Stallion wearing a NOS branded tank top, even though he knew she meant the car. “Well, I would ask you if you regret anything, but I already know the answer to that.” He looked over at her curiously. “What do you love the most about racing?”

“Building the car.” Her hand slipped from his as she started talking with her hands, making shapes and placing them together. “It’s like a life-size puzzle that you not only get to put together, but you get to customize it with silvers, and blacks, and any other color under the sun. Then when it’s all done you can actually play with it.” 

“Sounds like LEGOs for rocket scientists,” he chuckled. “And a lot more messy. But it was fun to install the turbo, even though the car leaked all over my pretty hair.” 

She chuckled lightly as she reached behind him and played with the ends of his hair at his neck. “Well, it still looks wonderful.”

“Thank you,” he kissed her cheek. “So, when is your race?” He looked down at the strip where another race had just finished. 

She shrugged. “It takes a while for someone to get the nerve up to race me. If I get a challenge at all.” She looked her brother’s way. “If I don’t, Whistle or High Roller will make a pass with me just so I can get some time with the car.”

“I would, if I wanted to lose the money I just won, plus more,” he laughed. “Actually, I probably wouldn’t even have enough for the payout.” They stood along the edge of the parking lot, closest to the strip as they watched the races. After a moment he turned back to her. “I was thinking. What do you want our next date to be?” 

Stallion thought for a moment as she watched the next set of cars line up. Her shoulders then lifted and dropped. “I don’t know. I know what I would like to do, but that would be an all-day dive for us, and by all day I am talking 24 hours. We would have to find a place to camp out so we could sign out and do RL things.”

He blinked at her, tilting his head. “And what’s that?” 

“I want to go to Tokyo,” she looked over at him with a wide smile.

Ryushiro laughed. “It’s a good thing I know you’re talking about SRO’s Tokyo.” He thought it over then nodded. “Sounds good to me. I’d love to see what Tokyo in SpeedRunner has to offer.” 

Stallion’s smile widened as she turned to face him. “Really? You would go to Tokyo with me and hang out for a day or three?”

“Yeah, of course I would,” he chuckled. “It’ll be good practice for you when you actually visit. It’ll be incredible for us both.” 

Stallion wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. “Thank you thank you thank you! I can’t get any of the others to go with me, so this is a long time coming for me.”

Ryushiro laughed as he hugged her back, lifting her up and spinning her around. “What? Why not? They don’t like traveling or something?” 

Stallion giggled as he spun her around. “No, it’s just an unneeded trip just to check it out. They don’t want to drop the Slips on it when they could be doing other things with them.”

“How much is it to travel? Is it reflective of IRL prices, or do they make up their own?” 

“They make it rather cheap.” Her head shook. “It’s like half of what a round trip ticket would cost IRL. Which is really sweet.”

“Oh, cool,” his eyes lit up. “That’s awesome. At least you’re not stuck in one country all the time until you rack up the money to travel.” He shook his head. “That would be so disappointing.” Suddenly he remembered something Kitsune told him about traveling. “So, how do you get a passport in this game?”

“The Winner’s Circle. There is a place that reminds me of a Post Office. You can get one there. They cost 20 Slips.” Stallion informed him.

Ryushiro let out a sarcastic laugh. “If only traveling was that cheap IRL. I’d have gone around the world at least ten times by now.” He turned to her with a smile, taking her face in his hands and kissing her softly. “Tomorrow we can go down and get me a passport then go on our trip. Is there any sort of planning we should be doing before we go? Extra Slips, items, etc.” 

“Nope,” her head shook. “Just need to take a car with us. Don’t matter which one. We will not be racing. Just checking things out.” 

“Um… won’t the roads be back to normal for me over there, or do they make all the roads in this game like in America, even overseas?”

“Don’t know,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I have never been there, but since the steering wheel comes on both sides of the cars around here. I would have to say things would be what you are used to over there.”

“Maybe we should rent a car over there then? Both of our cars have wheels on the left. Or is it feasible to switch the steering wheels then switch them back? That would probably cost a lot of money though, I imagine.” 

“It’s doable, but not logical for a trip for the cost and labor you have to put into it..” Stallion explained.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he nodded. “A rental sounds best then. Are rentals expensive in this game?” 

She looked at him as her shoulders slowly drew up.

He chuckled. “I guess we’ll find out then.” 

The rest of the night went slow but peaceful. No one challenged Stallion that night, so she ended up racing her brother and High Roller. Ryushiro ended up with another challenger, which he won, bringing in a profit of 6,000 Slips for the night. Afterwards they headed back to the house and logged out. It was just after one when Ryushiro logged out, getting lunch for himself. He knew Kaori and Tsukiro would be in bed by then, so he didn’t bother calling or texting them, let alone heading over to their apartment. The rest of the afternoon and evening went by slowly for him. Each hour he spent out of game was an hour he spent missing Rain. He couldn’t wait to see her again. He especially couldn’t wait for their trip to Tokyo in SRO. 

\---

It was seven in the afternoon when Ryushiro bought himself dinner and took it over to his brother’s and Kaori’s to eat with them. He would have bought them something, but the two of them were technically having breakfast. When he arrived, they were just finishing their cooking and setting the table. Surprisingly, the two of them looked well rested considering their backwards schedules. 

“At least you two are resting and eating well,” Ryushiro said as he set his bag of food on the table and unpacked the items. “I’m glad.” 

“You too,” Tsukiro said as they all sat down. He put his hands together. “Itadakimasu.” Ryushiro and Kaori repeated the phrase as well. “So when’s your next date with Stallion?”

“That you didn’t even tell me about,” Kaori pouted at the two of them, stuffing a piece of rolled egg in her mouth. The boys laughed softly. 

Ryushiro smiled and picked up his carton of fried rice. “It’s today. We’re going to visit Tokyo in SRO.” 

“Oh!” Kaori beamed at him. “That’ll be so fun! Let me know what it’s like. I want to visit there when I get further in the game.” 

Ryushiro nodded, chewing and swallowing a mouthful of rice. “We’re going to take the whole three days and explore. She hasn’t been there either. And…” He paused before continuing. “It’ll be good practice for her.”

“Practice?” Tsukiro looked at him curiously as he lifted his bowl of miso soup to his mouth. “Practice for what? Tokyo Drift?”

Ryushiro laughed as Kaori elbowed Tsukiro. “No, no. Not that… Actually… she’s going to be visiting me in the winter after her racing season is over. We’re going to be taking a few weeks to travel up to Hokkaido. She’s never seen snow, so I figured the best place for her to see it would be Hokkaido.” 

The two of them stared slack jaw at him. He shrunk down in his seat. “Wh-what?”

Tsukiro pointed his chopsticks at Ryushiro, looking at him analytically. “This… thing… between you and Stallion… It’s not just a crush or a fling is it? It’s not just some online thing that will get boring for the both of you in a few months, is it?” Ryushiro hung his head low and shook it. “You’re serious about her.” 

Ryushiro raised his head, looking at his brother. He nodded firmly. “Very serious. I… We… We’re in love.” 

Kaori dropped her chopsticks to her plate, gaping at him like a goldfish. “You didn’t say it was that serious!”

Tsukiro gave him a raised eyebrow look. His eyebrows then slammed down to meet his eyes. He lowered his chopsticks. “It hasn’t even been a week since you’ve known this girl. And you two are already confessing to each other?”

“She’s not just some girl,” Ryushiro shook his head at his brother. “I love her! And so what if our feelings don’t have the substantial history like yours? Or any history. That doesn’t mean the feelings aren’t there. She cares about me, and I care about her. Besides...” He sighed, looking down at his food. “Mom and Dad fell in love young and quick.” 

“Relax, Shiro,” Tsukiro said to him softly. “I wasn’t telling you how to feel. I was just concerned that maybe the two of you were running with this too fast.”

“Maybe so, but why wait if the feelings are there,” Ryushiro rebutted. 

“Because some things take time,” he pulled apart a flat pancake with his chopsticks and picked up a small piece. “But I won’t tell you what to do with your relationship. This is between you and her. If you two have problems in the future, it’s your responsibility to work it out like the adults you both are. And I trust you to do that.” 

Ryushiro stared at his brother for a while. “So… you’re okay with the two of us being together?”

“Of course. When did I say I wasn’t?” He blinked at his brother, stuffing the pancake in his mouth. 

Kaori rolled her eyes then looked at Ryushiro, shaking her head. Ryushiro laughed, smiling brightly. “Oh, and one other thing.” Ryushiro gave Tsukiro a pointed look. “Please make the effort to get along peacefully with her, Niisan.”

“Huh?! I got along with her just fine!” 

“Then please tone down your… extraness.” 

Tsukiro scoffed, stuffing his face once more. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“The two of us didn’t have sex, by the way,” he blurted out. 

Tsukiro froze with his chopsticks in his mouth. “But you said--”

“You took that the complete wrong way, but it was so funny I just ran with it,” Ryushiro smirked at him. “Really, Tsuki-nii. You need to realize that I’m not young and innocent anymore. My youth died in SAO with everyone else’s. Including yours and Kaori’s.”

Tsukiro stared long and hard at Ryushiro, his chest seizing up as he watched him eat. Cerberus’s words from the other day in Dragon Lance surfaced in his mind. He clenched his teeth then sighed heavily, looking down as he pulled apart his pancake. 

“I just want to protect you. I want you to be safe and happy. In real life and in VR. That’s all I want.” His voice was uncharacteristically quiet. 

Ryushiro looked up at Tsukiro, watching him this time as he ate quietly. Kaori looked between the two like they were playing table tennis. After a long moment, he stood up and walked around to the other side of the table. He wrapped his arms around Tsukiro’s neck, leaning his head against his. 

“I am safe. I’m safe, and I have the opportunity to be happy. And that’s because of you. So cut yourself some slack, okay? I’m stronger and wiser than you think. I know we didn’t really age in SAO, but I’m not the same age I was then.” He hugged him tighter. 

Tsukiro paused then set down his chopsticks. He put one arm on Ryushiro’s and put his other hand in his hair. “That doesn’t mean I won’t stop trying.” 

Ryushiro smiled and pulled away, directing his warm smile down at his brother. “I know. Just don’t blame yourself when bad things happen. And cut me some slack too when I mess up or do something that worries you.” 

Tsukiro grinned, going back to his breakfast. “We’ll see.” His tone was even, but Ryushiro knew he meant it as a partial joke. 

He sat down and their meal continued. Kaori smiled at the two of them, shaking her head before going back to her own breakfast. 

“I’m glad I’m an only child, because you two are more than enough for me.” 

The two laughed at her, Tsukiro leaning over to kiss her cheek. The rest of the evening went peacefully, Ryushiro spending time with them for a couple hours more before heading home to log into SRO.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Ryushiro spawned in at about nine-fifteen in the morning VR time to see that Stallion was already awake and downstairs making breakfast. He smelled the scent of scrambled eggs, bacon, and French toast coming up from the kitchen. He smiled and hopped out of the bed in his and Stallion’s room, heading downstairs. She appeared to be just about finished, taking the eggs off the heat and setting them aside with the bacon, and finishing up the last few slices of French toast. There was also a pitcher of orange juice. Torque was getting plates and silverware while Frogger was grabbing glasses for the juice. He heard the others in the living room watching something on TV. Probably racing, but he wasn’t paying attention. 

He smiled at Stallion and moved up next to her, snaking an arm around her waist and leaning in for a kiss. “Morning. Am I late?”

“Nope,” Stallion smiled up at him, kissing him back. “Just in time. Sorry I didn’t wait for you. They were barking for food.”

Ryushiro laughed, shaking his head. “No, it’s okay. It was nice spawning into the smell of breakfast.” He held the plate for her as she placed the last few slices of French toast on it then turned to dump the dishes in the sink. “I don’t think I’ve had French toast before.” He gazed down at the egg-fried slices of bread. “Does it taste more like egg or more like bread?”

“It’s a little sweet and a little savory,” Stallion answered. “So kind of neither I guess?” 

“Sweet egg and bread?” He blinked.

Torque laughed as she picked out knives and forks from a drawer. “It’s cause you put cinnamon and sugar in the egg batter. It makes it sweet. It doesn’t taste eggy. Promise.” 

“And then you slather it with butter and maple syrup,” Frogger hummed, setting glasses down on the counter. 

“So, like pancakes, but with bread instead of batter?” Ryushiro nodded. 

“Pretty much,” Stallion smiled. “Ready to eat?”

“Definitely,” he smiled back. 

“Everyone come grab a plate!” Stallion called into the living room and soon everyone shuffled in to get food. She took a plate for herself then handed Ryushiro one. 

As they sat at the table enjoying their breakfast, Stallion looked up at everyone sitting with them.

“I’m going to be gone for a few days,” Stallion announced.

“Oh?” Whistle looked up at her. “What about the Stang, and where are you going?”

“The Stang will be fine, I still have 3 weeks to get her finished, and Tokyo.” Stallion confessed.

“Stallion and I wanted to see Tokyo. Especially since it should be good practice for her come winter,” Ryushiro turned and smiled at her. “Hopefully the game has some great ryokan inns in Japan.”

Everyone at the table stopped eating and looked at Ryushiro when he made comment about practice and the coming winter. Whistle set his fork down lacing his fingers together in front of him. “Practice? Practice for what?” 

He looked between the two his eyes resting pointedly on his sister. “Hmm?”

Ryushiro looked between Stallion and Whistle. His face grew hot with nerves and he thought about sinking down into his seat until his head was no longer visible. “I said something I wasn’t supposed to again…” 

Stallion reached up and took Ryushiro’s hand as she looked at him shaking her head. Her attention then turned to her brother and the others. “Yes, practice. I plan on going to see Ryushiro in Japan this winter. I have already talked to mom and dad.”

“And they’re cool with this?” High Roller questioned.

Stallion looked to High Roller. “Yes, why wouldn’t they be? It’s my money and they know I have been wanting to travel.”

High Roller sat up and looked at her, blinking a few times. “Why? Because you're going alone.”

“I am an adult, High Roller. I don’t need a babysitter.” Stallion commented.

“I refrain from commenting any further in this situation,” Ryushiro looked down, focusing on his French toast. “Also, egg bread tastes a lot better than it sounds.” 

Stallion and a few others chuckled lightly at Ryushiro as Stallion looked back to Whistle and High Roller. “You know you two confuse the shit out of me.” They both looked pointedly at her. “You will let me climb behind the wheel of a car that can do a buck fifty and fly down a strip in under 2.2 seconds, but to go visit someone I care about and love--”

“WHOA WHOA WHOA!! Love!? Love!?” Whistle retorted as he pointed at Ryushiro. “You have known him less than a week!” His head shook madly as he looked at Ryushiro. “I don’t know what the hell you have planted in her head, but I will tell yo--”

“Shut up and leave him out of this!” Stallion barked. “Ryushiro has done nothing of the sort. I know you don’t believe in love at first sight…” She fell silent casting her eyes down. “In reality, I never did either.” She looked over at Ryushiro with a bright warm smile. “But I do now.” Her head shook as she still looked at the man she loved. “I don’t know what happened, but I know how I feel.” She looked quickly back at her brother with a lifted finger knowing he was going to say something. “And even if it is only a deep admiration for him. It’s enough. I know he is the only one I want to be with.”

Ryushiro smiled at her, taking her hand and squeezing. He turned to Whistle, braving the look of rage on his face. He stood up straight, looking her brother in the eye. “I feel the same way about her. I’ve never wanted to be with someone this bad before. Or ever. I think about her even when I’m not logged in. She’s not just ‘Stallion’ to me. She’s my girlfriend, Rain. I care about her more than anyone else in my life. Even more than my brother and sister in law. If that’s not love…” He shook his head, “then I don’t want to find out what is. I’m happy to be with her. That’s all I need. She’s all I need. So… so…” 

He debated on whether or not to even say his next thought, but then something hit him. If he wasn’t willing to be brave enough to stand up to Rain’s brother to defend his relationship, then he wasn’t worthy of being with her. He locked eyes with Whistle again, narrowing his eyes. He stood up from his seat, taking a deep breath. 

“So if you think I’m using her or planting things in her head, then so be it! I’ll just have to prove to you that I’m not!” Suddenly he bowed to him. “Sorry for my rudeness.” After standing up straight once more, he took his seat again, going back to his plate silently. 

Stallion smiled proudly at Ryushiro as her attention went back to her brother and High Roller. “If you like it or not I am going to Japan this winter. Mom and dad are fine with it and told me to even have a good time, but…” she looked at Ryushiro as he looked over at her with a worried look.

Her smile widened. “They want you to come to visit us as soon as you can.”

Ryushiro’s eyes lit up in surprise and excitement. His face burst into a huge, bright smile. He nodded enthusiastically. “I’d be happy to! Honored even. Though I will have to speak with my dad to see how much he is willing to give me for the trip. That will determine how long I stay. But I’m sure I’ll be able to get enough even for a few days. A week is feasible, though I’m not sure about any longer than that. Also,” he flushed in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll probably sound like a fool. I still need a lot of practice with my English. But I’ll be sure to have a translator app on my phone.” 

Stallion giggled as she patted his hand. “Well, I am still working on my Japanese, so we are in the same boat.” Her head shook. “And you won’t have to worry about a place to stay and food. They have already offered to let you stay at the house. We have a guest room, actually two.”

Ryushiro chuckled, shaking his head. “Oh no. I’m not going to be a moocher. I’ll earn my stay there. It’s only right. After all, they’re letting a stranger into their home. The least I should do is be a gracious guest.” 

Trigger chuckled, shaking his head. “Don't worry about being a moocher. They will put you to work before you even know you got put to work.”

“Eh heh,” Ryushiro chuckled again with a smile. “I’m sure they will, and I’ll welcome it.” He turned back to Stallion. “Still, I’m a bit shocked. Last time we talked about your parents you said they thought it wasn’t anything serious. Did something change their mind?”

“I guess they had time to think about what I told them. Not to mention they have been watching me and how I have been acting,” Stallion informed him.

“She is just as starstruck IRL as she is in-game,” Whistle confirmed, his head shaking. “I don’t agree with the love at first sight thing, but there is something definitely between the two of you.” He looked between the two of them. “If it’s love. That’s great.” His look went pointedly to Ryushiro. “But if you’re playing her.” His tone and looked became very intense and serious. “The next person that will be visiting you in Japan will be me... to remove your head.” 

Ryushiro lowered his head but didn’t break his gaze with Whistle. “Think what you will, but eventually you’ll see that I’m telling the truth. Actions speak louder than words.” 

“Well sorry, I am having a hard time believing this.” Whistle said standing from the table as he picked up his empty plate to put it in the dishwasher. “But it's not every day you meet a 19-year-old girl that has the cash flow Stallion has.” He stepped up to the dishwasher as he looked over at Ryushiro. “You get my drift?” 

Ryushiro blinked at Whistle. The piece that snapped into place earlier snapped right back out, though not from his newfound bravery disappearing. He glared at the man and stood up in his chair so fast it got knocked backward. He turned to face Whistle. His hands clenched into fists. His shoulders shook. He’d never been so angry before. 

“If you think I’m in this for money, then you’re dead fucking wrong! My family isn’t exactly piss poor, and if you saw the zeros on the settlement money the three of us got from the bullshit that happened with SAO, you’d be shitting bricks! I don’t need money and I don’t want it! So if that’s the excuse you’re rolling with, you’d better find something else to try and find dirt on, cause that ain’t it!” 

Ryushiro turned and speed-walked away from the table and towards the front door. He was so red-faced he didn’t even hear Stallion calling out to him. He threw open the door then closed it behind him, somehow controlling himself enough to not slam it. He didn’t go far once he was outside. He thought about getting in his car and driving off faster than his brain could comprehend, but he was always the rational brother. He knew it was a dumb idea to drive angry, so he just sat down on the last step at the end of the walkway, closest to the sidewalk. 

There was yelling and screaming back in the house as Ryushiro sat outside on the step, but he did not budge from his spot. A few seconds later he turned to the slamming of the door, seeing Stallion walk from the house just as mad if not madder than he was just seconds before.

“Let’s go!!” She demanded as she stormed past him to her car.

He blinked up at her then stood up, following her. He didn’t say anything, not wanting to exacerbate the situation. He already felt slightly guilty now that he was a little less angry. They hopped in her Nissan and Stallion had the engine started before he even had his seatbelt on. When he grabbed the seatbelt she revved the motor, making him jump at least three inches in his seat and scramble to put the seat belt in the clicker. After about three seconds of fumbling, he pressed himself against the door and grabbed the handle above the window with both hands, his heart hammering in his chest so hard he could hear it in his ears. 

The car didn’t move. 

Slowly he turned to look at Stallion, a bit surprised that she hadn’t shot off in the car by now. Still, he remained silent. Confused, but silent. 

Suddenly she started slamming the heels of her hands into the steering wheel as she cursed her brother. Just as quickly as she started she stopped as she leaned forward resting her forehead against the steering wheel next. A soft sniffle escaped her.

“Why can’t he just be happy for me?”

Ryushiro instantly calmed down, releasing his white-knuckled grip on the handle. He unfastened his seatbelt, then did the same to hers. He grabbed her underneath the arms and pulled her over into his lap, but not before checking to make sure the car’s parking brake was set and the transmission was in neutral. Once she was in his lap, he cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth as he set his head on top of hers. 

He smoothed her hair back, shushing her quietly. “It’ll be okay. I’m right here.”

“Why is he being such an ass? I don’t get it.” Stallion cuddled into him as he held her in his arms. 

Ryushiro sighed, rubbing her back. “From one sibling with an older brother to another, sometimes they get so absorbed in protecting us that they forget to think about what we want. My brother is the same way sometimes, but eventually, he comes around and realizes that he’s just making me miserable.” He kissed her forehead and continued. “I can’t speak for your brother, but I know that no matter what he loves you. Even when he messes up.” 

Stallion only nodded her head sniffling once more, she looked up at Ryushiro and smiled warmly, kissing his cheek. “I am sorry you have to put up with him and High Roller. They can be real jerks sometimes.”

Ryushiro frowned, shaking his head. “No, it’s fine. I opened my mouth when I shouldn’t have again. This would have gone much better if I hadn’t said anything. I just undid all the progress I made with him.” 

“No, he undid it. Why should we have to keep our mouths shut over what we want to do or what we are going to do? How we feel, be it about one another or something else? I tell them the things I do to be courteous so they won’t think I am going to be around and make plans or for whatever reason.” Her head shook. “Not for them to oppose me at every spoken word that slips from my mouth.” 

Ryushiro nodded, hugging her tightly. “I understand. Like I said before, eventually, they’ll realize I’m not lying or using you. If not… then so be it.” 

She leaned into him again, her head resting to his shoulder. “They will see soon enough. Then they will be eating their words.”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead once more. “Yes they will.” He pulled back to look down at her. “Well, should we get going?” 

Stallion smiled warmly as she made her way back over into the driver's seat. Once back into her seatbelt she released the e-brake and took off out of the driveway of the house. Off to The Winner’s Circle to get Ryushiro’s Passport. 

\---

Ryushiro and Stallion exited the parking garage at The Winner’s Circle, coming up in one of the elevators and arriving somewhere near the middle of the complex. They held hands as they walked around. 

He turned to her with a smile. “So you said this place was like a post office? I’m surprised it wouldn’t be in some sort of capitol building instead of here.” 

“Well, it reminds me of a Post Office. It’s more like UPS.” Stallion replied looking over at him as they walked along, she pointed ahead. “It’s just a short walk that way.”

“I see. Is it usually busy, or do they deal with their customer flow pretty well? I’d hate for this to be like actually getting a passport,” he laughed. “We’d have to spend a whole day just getting one.” 

Stallion chuckled, shaking her head. “No, it’s actually really quick, and speaking of getting a Passport I need to go get mine, IRL, while I still have time to stand around in line all day and not be late for something.” 

Ryushiro nodded. “Thankfully for me, our dad made us get one at a young age in case we ever needed it. He makes us keep up with renewing it too, so that’s one thing I don’t have to deal with.” He grinned at her. “Try playing him at chess. That’s guaranteed to either piss you off or leave you in awe. Or both.”

Stallion shook her head. “No thank you. I suck at Chess. So it’s in my best interest to stay out of that area with your father.”

He smiled at her. “I think you’ll like him. He’s a pretty amicable guy. Intimidating at times, but likable. He’s like…” He thought to himself for a moment before grinning. “He’s like Ciel Phantomhive’s father. Vincent. Charming and noble but also a little scary. Though he looks more like Byakuya Kuchiki. Only he smiles more and isn’t as rich.” 

Stallion looked over at Ryushiro with the description of his father and blinked a few times. “So what happened to Tsukiro?”

“Tsukiro happened,” Ryushiro laughed. “Though I can’t really say that. Our father had a rebellious and outgoing spirit when he was young, but his father was very strict with him. He tried to go against him in his youth, but as he grew older he lost the motivation to be reckless and outgoing and instead focused on what was more important.”

“And what was more important?”

Ryushiro smiled at her. “Our mother. And Tsukiro. Mom was sixteen when he met her. He was twenty-five. That was when he started to calm down. Mom’s parents didn’t want him around her if he was ‘going to act like a fool.’ Their words. So he finally had something to focus on besides doing whatever came to mind on the breath of the wind. A year later he had won over her parents. A year after that, Tsukiro was born.” 

“She was sixteen and he was twenty-five!?” She exclaimed with wide eyes and rubbed her forehead at the concept. “That’s. That’s…” She looked at Ryushiro. “Well I don’t know the word for it, but I know that wouldn’t happen in the states. Your dad would be behind bars.” 

Ryushiro doubled over in laughter. “No, no, no! They didn’t actually do anything until she was eighteen. Hence my brother. They were kind of together before that, but not physically. Not in that way. He was a gentleman to her. He made sure she focused in school and graduated before actually being with her. It was more like a promise between them and her parents. Kind of old fashioned but without the betrothal and all that stuff. More or less, he had respect for her age and her parents.” 

“Still that is so young. At sixteen all I was thinking about was my next race and if I was ever going to get the Stang done before Summer came about. Guys were nuisances to me at that age.” 

“Oh, but you didn’t know my father at that age,” Ryushiro laughed once more. “Or anyone like him. I’m telling you. Once you meet Dainosuke Ashimitsu, you’ll get it. It’ll click into place like the last piece of a puzzle. Just think of Tsuki, but take out all the extra stuff, and then add a few extra doses of chivalry. And way more handsome. Just don’t tell Tsuki that.” 

Stallion chuckled, shaking her head. “Well, let's hope for Tsukiro’s sake,” She looked at Ryushiro again. “He grows out of his…” She paused and looked ahead of them once more. “Annoying stage.” As she said that the location they were headed came into sight. “And we are here.” 

The passport office did indeed look like a UPS shipping service location mixed with a license bureau. There were several counters in the back and several photograph stations with seating in the middle. There were posters and holographic signage announcing to the patrons the rules of traveling in the game. It also displayed advertisement style clips of different locations in the game. Both within the US and internationally. It didn’t look extremely busy, but he wasn’t sure what busy or slow it was for this place.

“Looks like things will move rather quickly, so we should be able to catch a flight by this afternoon.” Stallion smiled hopefully and excitedly. 

“Awesome,” Ryushiro beamed from ear to ear. He looked at her as he went to take a number and find a seat. “So we will have to be back here in LA in the afternoon three days from today. Does the game give you a grace period? Like a few hours?”

“No, it sends you notices. One when you have 12 hours left, another at 6 hours, and another when you have one hour.” She chuckled. “I have never experienced it, but I was told you had better be sitting at the airport when the last hour hits or things get real crazy in the game for you.”

“Oh God. I don’t want to know. I’m sure I’ll end up puking, whatever it is,” he shook his head. 

It wasn’t long and his number was called up. They went up to the counter number he was called to and the girl behind the desk smiled at him. 

“My you have lovely hair,” she stated as she smiled at him. “How can I help you today, sir?”

“Thank you,” Ryushiro smiled politely at her. “I’m here to get a passport.” 

“Wonderful,” she claimed as she reached under the counter where she was standing. “I will need you to fill out a few things.” She told him as she pulled out the papers one by one sitting them on the counter. “So will you be using this to travel in the very near future?” She pulled out two more sheets of paper making it a total of three sheets as she stood erect once more and looked at the young man. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Ryushiro nodded. “Today in fact, if we’re lucky. Will that be a problem?” He looked at the paperwork, wondering how much of it was legitimately for the game and how much was just to make it more realistic. Paperwork? In a VR? It was almost laughable. 

“The Passport will need at least a one-hour cooldown after we get the process completed. We will have to get you in the system and show you are indeed clear to travel.” She slid the papers forward, gesturing to the top page. “The top two pages you will need to read and sign. By signing this, it will confirm that you are in compliance with understanding how international traveling works within the world.” She flipped the first page over placing an ‘x’ next to the line where he would need to sign. She then did the same to the next page. On the third page, she looked up at him and smiled warmly. “On this page, you will need to fill out all the information and sign at the bottom.” At the bottom of the page, she placed another ‘x’. “Once you have this filled out just return to my window. Even if I have another standing here. Just wait behind them and I will get to you once more.” 

“Thank you so much,” Ryushiro smiled at the woman as he and Stallion returned to the seats. Once they were seated, he turned to her. “Okay, I’ll bite. How much of this is theatrics and how much is legit.” He chuckled. 

Stallion chuckled. “Well if it was theatrics your stack of papers would be larger. There would be a police report, but…” She tapped her chin with her index finger. “I think they do run a police report on you. Anyway. It’s more just to get you to understand how traveling works.”

“Hm. I see. The police report would make sense, given the game. Also, it would make sense if they included information here that players needed to know for reasons relating to them as players rather than their characters. Like being courteous of others’ cultures and things like that.” 

He looked down at the papers and read through all of the text. He then made note that at the bottom of the paragraph it mentioned the information in the documents would be available to read in their inventory panel with the passport when he received it. He signed wherever he saw an X then turned and smiled at Stallion. 

“Done.” She nodded and they stood up to get back in line behind the two people that were lined up at the counter he was called to. “It’s like when I got my driver’s license only much, much faster.” 

“Mhmm,” Stallion hummed. The anticipation was building on her and she could not wait to be on the plane and moving toward Japan. In game and IRL. Quickly she looked back to Ryushiro, the grip on his hand becoming firm enough to grab his attention. “Shiro?”

“Hmm,” he hummed looking at her.

“How cold will it be in Japan when I come to see you?”

“Well, considering you live in Florida,” Ryushiro chuckled. “I think mentally you’d better prepare for Mount Everest, but physically, lots of warm clothes. Long pants, long sleeved shirts, lots of layers, gloves, hat, scarf, heavy coats, lighter coats for layering, and snow pants and snow boots. Oh and socks. Never enough socks. But that’s mostly for Hokkaido. It can get pretty dangerous in Hokkaido if you’re not prepared, but in Tokyo, it’s more average. If you want, when I come visit you in the summer, I can help you go winter shopping. If Florida even sells winter clothing.” He laughed again. 

Stallion shook her head. “I have none of that. My heaviest jacket is a hoodie. I don’t think I have ever seen the temperature drop below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.” 

“Wow!” Ryushiro’s eyes widened. “Well, I know where I want to retire in forty years,” he laughed. “Do a lot of people retire to Florida?” 

“God yes!” Stallion exclaimed. “Florida is more Senior citizens than the partying college kids that invade us for spring break.” 

“Oh yeah,” Ryushiro laughed. “I remember Tsukiro saying one time that Florida is where all the American porn is made.” Suddenly he noticed several people turning around to look at him with pointed looks. He flushed so hot he thought he was going to faint. He shuffled behind Stallion and hid his face in her hair. “F-forget I said anything…” 

Stallion could not help but laugh at his statement. “Now my curiosity is peaked.” She looked slightly back at Ryushiro. “How does your brother know this? Is there something about him we need to be warned about?”

“Just his gutter mind…” He mumbled through her hair, his face still buried in it, not wanting to look anyone in the eye. 

She took his hand and pulled him back to her side kissing his cheek. “Well, I don’t know what I am going to do for winter clothing, but if I have to I will send you money and you and Kit can go shopping for me in Japan. That way I can have warm clothing when I get there, or at least one warm outfit with a coat and all the amenities to change into, and then you and I can go shopping.”

“Well, that might not be necessary. Do you have a sporting goods store in Miami? If you do, they most likely will have winter clothing for the winter sports. If not, I’ll do as you suggest and shop for you in Japan then send you a couple of outfits to change into when you land in Japan. That way you’re not freezing until you get in somewhere warm.” 

Stallion nodded with a smile. She was about to reply when he was called up to the counter. The two stepped forward as Ryushiro slid his paperwork toward the lady.

The woman looked over all of the paperwork before looking up at him and smiling politely. “Great! Looks like everything is in order! I’ll start the process on this and within an hour, give or take, your passport will be active. Once I submit this paperwork, your passport will be set to your inventory immediately. Until the cooldown period is over, it will display as ‘inactive.’ After the cooldown, the inactive label will disappear. That will be the point at which you can use it. Do you have any questions?”

Ryushiro shook his head with a smile. “No ma’am.”

“Okay, at this time I’ll accept your payment for the passport. 20 Slips is your total,” the woman told him as she stamped the paperwork and put it in a plastic box labeled “pending.”

A payment screen popped up on Ryushiro’s panel. He hit the accept button and 20 Slips was deducted from his total and transferred to the sale of the passport. 

“And your transaction is complete! All that’s left is to take a picture so we can place it on your passport. The picture is free and once you have one taken, it will immediately be added to your passport.” The girl turned and looked at the photo booths on the left side. “I’ll put you down for booth five. Please head over there and wait in line. And thank you for your patronage!” 

“Thank you very much,” Ryushiro bowed to her out of habit. 

They didn’t have to wait long at the booth. Only a couple minutes later, Ryushiro was called up to the booth. After the man running the booth fiddled with the camera, he snapped a photo of Ryushiro and approved it. After that a notification from his inventory popped up, letting him know he had received “Passport (inactive)”. The image of the passport was very standard. A blue book with the word “passport” in gold and when it was opened up it had all of his character info and the picture he had taken.

“Please remember that you can start to use it after the cooldown has ended. After that you are free to enjoy your passport to visit other countries,” the man at the camera reminded him.

“Thank you,” Ryushiro thanked him before he turned to Stallion, walking away from the photo booth. “Ready to go?” 

“Absolutely,” she smiled up at him, taking his hand in hers. 

\---

The closer they got to the Thundering Horses’ house, the more anxiety Ryushiro started to feel. Not because of their trip to Japan, but because of the drama that had unfolded earlier. He wasn’t sure what he’d be walking into. He wasn’t even sure if he was welcomed by the others anymore. And then the guilt had set in. He started to feel guilty that he had started something foul between the other members. The others had been friends for a very long time. He had only known them for less than a week, and already he was in a serious relationship with Whistle’s sister. He knew how it looked to them, but he would not just let Whistle make wild assumptions without knowing anything about him. He refused to let the man disrespect him and dishonor him like he had tried to. He had no proof and nothing to support his claim except his misconceptions based on his overprotectiveness. 

So much for progress. 

Ryushiro sighed heavily as they stepped out of the car, which Stallion had parked outside the garage since they were leaving as soon as they retrieved their packed bags. Stallion looked over at him and smiled as she patted his leg.

“You’re worried.” He gave her a weak smile and nodded his head slowly. “Well don’t be. I’m not going to let my brother or any of the others get between us. This is our life, not theirs and they have no right interfering like they are.” She looked toward the front door of the house then back to Ryushiro with the same warm smile. “I doubt they’re even in there if you want the truth about it.”

Ryushiro chuckled and smiled at her. He gave her a soft kiss. “That makes me feel better. And I would never let them interfere with our relationship. I've just had my fair share of drama for the day. I'm ready for a vacation.” He grinned and chuckled again.

“Then let's go get our things and get out of here.” She looked at the clock on the car's radio. “We can hang out at the airport for an hour if they’re in there. If not we can still leave so not to come across any of them.”

When he nodded at her they opened their car doors and climbed out of the car, closing the doors behind them. Stallion walked around the car as the two stepped up to one another, taking the others hand in theirs they walked to the front door of the house. Once inside it was clear to see they were indeed alone.

They made quick work of heading upstairs and pulling their luggage out of the closet space. They had packed the day before that way all they had to do was place their luggage in their inventory and be on their way. Before putting the suitcases and bags into inventory, they double checked the contents of the bags and suitcases to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything. Once everything was checked they popped it in and headed back downstairs.

Ryushiro held his hand out to her with a smile. “Ready?” 

Stallion clasp her hand with his as she nodded slowly. “Yep!” She said excitedly stepping forward. “I can’t wait to get there. So what’s the weather like there now?”

“You mean IRL or in game?” Ryushiro chuckled. 

“Both,” she giggled. “They like to follow IRL in game as closely as they can. At least temp wise.”

“Well, in that case, when we get there it should be somewhere between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius. I think that’s 60s and 70s in Fahrenheit. Lots of rain and lots of sunshine during this time of year. Hot but not like ‘close to the equator’ hot. What’s the average in Florida?”

“Eh… About 90 degrees give or take. Next month it will be hotter.” She giggled when Ryushiro looked at her wide eyed. 

“Wow!” Ryushiro laughed. “We only get up to about 80 on average in August. Japan stays pretty cool cause of the ocean and the mountains. We’re mostly a rainy country. And plenty of it. Though our weather in the summer does make good beach weather. Not too hot or too cold.” 

Stallion smiled as the two walked out the door together, locking it tightly behind them. “I love the weather in Florida. The hotter the better because I know I can hang out at the beach all day when I am in the mood to do so.”

“Well, I think you’d better enjoy the heat now cause you’re in for a deep freeze come winter,” Ryushiro laughed. “Especially in Hokkaido. It can get dangerously cold there.”

She bounced in front of him taking his other hand, a smile so wide it covered her face. “I can’t wait! I want to go sledding, have a snowball fight, build a snowman and an igloo. Make a snow Angel. Take a walk when it snows and catch snowflakes on my tongue, and after we are frozen to the bone we can cuddle in front of a nice warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate and a fluffy thick blanket.” 

He chuckled and smiled brightly at her. “All of that sounds amazing. I’m planning on talking to my father this weekend about everything. I’ll let you know what he says then.” 

They arrived at the car and Ryushiro opened the driver’s side for Stallion before going to the passenger’s side. He hopped in and buckled his seat belt while she started the car. “And there’s no shortage of seasonal foods in Japan. Winter means lots of hot foods that warm you to your core, so if you ever get too cold, a hot bowl of ramen or sharing a hot pot is the best way to go. Seasonal eating is very big in Japan.” 

“I want to try a little of everything while I am there. I no longer want to be a virgin…” She burst out in laughter when he gave her a wide eyed look and smirked. “Well, that part of being a virgin can happen anywhere, so hold your roll tiger.”

He laughed and nodded. “Well, all of that can be easily arranged. Especially the second one. And of course I’m a good cook which means I can easily worm my way into your heart. After all, the quickest way to the heart is through the stomach.” 

She tipped her head to the side as she placed the car in gear. “But you have already worked your way into my heart. All that’s left is my soul.” She smiled and looked ahead of them as the car started to roll. “Sell it to you for a quarter.”

He laughed, shaking his head as he grinned. “A quarter? Not a buck fifty? And I would never buy your soul from you. I’d rather earn it. The proper way.” 

“You mean we have to make a deal for it? Like the Devil does at the Crossroads?” Stallion smirked.

He laughed again. “Nooo! I mean I’ll earn it with, you know, chivalry and all that. No signing in blood or anything.” He smiled at her warmly. “In any case, I really hope you enjoy Japan. Both in game and IRL.” 

She smiled giving him a quick glance then her eyes went back to the road in front of them. “I am sure I will and with you there it’s a bonus.”

“Same here,” he smiled, leaning over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. 

It wasn’t too much longer and they arrived at the airport. Stallion parked in the extended parking garage and they got out, catching a shuttle to the main terminal. When they entered the main area, he turned to her with a chuckle. 

“It’s nice not having to cart luggage around,” Ryushiro grinned. 

“Tell me about it, but the crazy thing is we still have to check it in.” She sighed and looked up at the flight board then remembered their flight number and gate was on their ticket. When she went to retrieve it she saw Ryushiro holding his own. She smiled wide. “So where do we need to be?” She asked cuddling up next to him to peek at his ticket.

“Looks like Gate 32C. Is that pretty far away?”

Stallion looked up again to see where they were at, noticing a little ways down was gate 21B. “Nope. It’s pretty close apparently.” She pointed at the sign down the way. “21B is right there.” She looked the other way to see if the numbers went up or down so she would know what way they needed to go. 

“21A is that way,” she pointed the opposite way then looked back toward gate 21B. “We need to go that way.” She gestured with her head.

Ryushiro nodded, looking at the signs for the stores, gift shops, and restaurants. “Any good eats here? Though I’m guessing food here is just as stupidly priced as IRL. Hyperinflation just because they can and all that.”

“I really don’t know,” Stallion offered. “I have never been in this airport.” She looked to Ryushiro. “But yeah, if it’s anything like IRL...I am sure the prices are crazy high.” 

He grinned. “At least we’re not spending real money.” 

“Nope, thank God.” She looked around to see if something looked appealing to her. “Subs, burgers, or steak and seafood?”

Ryushiro’s mouth watered at the thought of surf and turf. “Mmmm. Steak,” he hummed. “I can’t remember the last time I had a really good cut of steak.” 

Stallion chuckled and took his hand tugging him to follow. “Then you would love it at our house. We have steak at least twice a week, and not that crazy cheap steak. Dad wants Ribeye or T-Bone on his grill.”

“You’re gonna make me hungry in real life, and I can’t afford a ribeye,” Ryushiro chuckled back. “In any case, one of the best things about Asian cuisine is that it can take the cheapest, most undesirable cuts of meat and turn it into the most delicious thing. The paper thin cuts for example. Cooking them in a skillet alone dries them out and makes them tough. But if you cook them in broth and seasonings or slow roast them in an oven it makes it more tender and flavorful.” 

“I love Chinese cuisine so I am sure I am going to love Japanese cuisine. I can’t wait for the season to be over so I can come visit you and your family.” Stallion told him as they stepped up to the doors of Gold Coast Surf ‘n’ Turf. She reached for the door only to be stopped by Ryushiro.

“Uh uh, that’s my job,” he smiled at her. He opened the door for her, bowing to her and gesturing inside. “After you, my lady.” 

Stallion curtsied to him with a warm smile. “Thank you, sir.” She stepped through the door as the Host stepped up to her.

“Hello, Ma’am.” He looked to Ryushiro. “Sir. Two for lunch today?”

“Yes please,” Ryushiro smiled. He turned to smile at Stallion warmly. “We’ve got some time to kill before we officially start our vacation.”

He laced his fingers with hers as the host led them to their table.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Leading them to a booth Stallion slid to the inside as Ryushiro sat down beside her. The Host then gave them a menu. “What can I get you to drink today?”

“Iced Tea, please, sweet,” Stallion replied as she opened her menu then looked over at Ryushiro.

“Same for me but with lemon,” Ryushiro ordered. 

The host nodded with a smile. “I’ll have them right out.” He turned and hurried off towards the drink station near the bar. 

Ryushiro turned to Stallion. “So, are most wait staff in restaurants NPCs? Or can players take waiting jobs too?” He laughed and shrugged. “Not that they would want to.” 

“You can get a job anywhere. From what I understand about the whole job thing is if you get a job someplace they just replace the NPC with you. If you quit or just don’t come in the NPC takes over again.” Stallion informed him as she looked at the menu.

“I see,” Ryushiro nodded. “That’s different from SAO, ALO, and DL. In those, if you don’t show up for work, the owner is down one employee. Now if you quit, the owner has the option to hire an NPC.” He hummed, placing a hand on his chin. “So then I’m assuming you can own your own restaurant and other establishments in this game other than racing related businesses.” 

She looked over at him from her menu with an inquiring look. “You know. I really don’t know. I never looked into it.” She smirked and poked him lightly in the ribs. “Why? You looking to open a cupcake shop?”

Ryushiro laughed and shook his head. “No no. Nothing like that. But that sounds like fun. I just thought I’d find out for my brother. I’m sure he’d love to expand the Ebony Cafe into other games. He doesn’t have one in DL because he’s so busy. Even without the crisis.” 

“Omg yesss~ just what LA needs. Another cafe.” She giggled softly. 

He leaned over with laughter and gave her a smirk. He pointed his finger at her, shaking it. “You say that now, but let’s see what you say after you actually eat there. It may be a virtual cafe and not actually his cooking--thank GOD--but if there’s one thing he’s great at, it’s design and creativity. The Ebony Cafe is actually very popular in ALO. Especially for group meetups and smaller guilds that don’t have their own private meeting space. It’s especially busy at night.”

“So what you’re really saying is when I come to Japan to see you, don’t let your brother cook for me?” Stallion giggled as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I get it. I think it would be cool to have a local cafe around. Most of them are on the Boardwalks or in the Mall. Much too far to drive to just sit around and chat when we can do that on the streets.” 

Ryushiro nodded. “I definitely see him spending more time here once everything in DL is dealt with. He’ll probably be burned out on the game for a little while afterward. And he’ll probably spend some more time in ALO, so you’ll get to visit both the Alne location and the New Aincrad location.” 

He smiled at her, lacing his fingers together and setting his chin on top of them. “So, hypothetically--because I already know you’d flip the question around--if you weren’t doing mostly racing in this game, what would you do? Own a business other than a garage? Or maybe a casino?” 

“Good question. Maybe own an Auto Parts Shop. They got to get their parts from somewhere. Might as well get them from someone that knows what they need.” She looked back to her menu and then closed it just as the Host stepped back up to the table. She moved her menu out of the way as he sat their drinks down. “Thank you.” 

“Molly will be your waitress today and she should be with you in the next few minutes.” The Host then nodded to them and left the table.

Ryushiro took a sip of his lemon iced tea and smiled at Stallion. “I think if I chose a business in this game, it would definitely be doing decals. I’m sure the NPC run shops get really stale with their designs after a while. Unless the developers have a team of artists constantly feeding them new art to upload.” 

Stallion huffed shaking her head. “We have a total of about 50 to choose from and they are grouped for certain cars. So if you see one you like it’s possible it could be one that’s not for your Make and Model of car.” Her head shook again. “It is really annoying.” 

Ryushiro scoffed, shaking his head. With a dry, irritated tone in his voice, he replied, “So they like to pull the old ‘iPhones only’ stunt. Great. Because of course everyone in the world has an iPhone, or can even afford one.” He blinked and shook his head, waving his hands. “Sorry. Off topic. But I get it. So you’re saying it would be better if more players opened their own shops to decal cars instead of relying on the NPC stores.” 

Stallion nodded her head slowly as she propped her elbow to the tabletop and rested her chin to the heel of her hand. She looked pointedly at Ryushiro. “I just think no one has talent is the reason why no one has ever done it.”

Ryushiro flushed hot scarlet from her words and her intense gaze. He couldn’t remember anyone ever looking at him that way, except for in curiosity because of his hair. But her gaze was different. It was everything about him she was gazing at. Inside and out. He smiled and nodded at her.

“Then one day I will have to open my own shop. Then maybe the ones who do have talent will step up and offer up their own designs.” He pouted with a sigh. “Cause with fifty options limited to make and model specifics, I’d get bored really easily.” 

The waitress came around and Ryushiro ordered a ribeye steak with fried butterfly shrimp and a side of rice pilaf. Stallion also ordered the ribeye medium rare, with a lobster tail with garlic butter and a baked sweet potato with extra butter and brown sugar. 

Once Molly left to send the order to the back, Ryushiro turned to Stallion once more. “Have you ever thought about doing any decals on the Mustang?” 

“In reality. No. Maybe a little pinstriping but not the full-on mural from bumper to bumper or fender to quarter.” Stallion told him as she turned in the booth to face him.

Ryushiro nodded. “I get where you’re coming from.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Though I think I’m too creative and imaginative to leave the paint job plain. Hell, I don’t think I’d be able to leave the base color the same for too long.” 

Stallion giggled shaking her head. “Well, in SRO changing the color of your car is relatively easy and not really expensive. IRL though.” She got a serious look on her face as she shook her head. “And if it is a custom color. Hang. It. Up. You’re looking at twice, maybe three times what it would cost for a factory color.” 

He chuckled, shaking his head once again. “In real life, I would never. But in a game it’s easy. There’s no real consequence to spending superfluously other than running out of funds to buy more things. But I could see myself doing it more often IRL if I knew how to do it myself and could afford it. Then I wouldn’t have the profit markup like I would for having someone else do it for me.”

Stallion nodded as she took a sip of her tea. “It’s a little cheaper if it’s a DIY project, but the supplies you need are costly. Then when you’re done you have extra masking paper, masking tape and wet sanding paper left over. Though...” She pointed at him. “If you did go into the Air Brushing business you will need all of that.” 

He smirked at her crossing his arms. “If the Japanese had middle names, mine would be DIY.” He hummed, uncrossing his arms. “You can draw in this game like you can in real life, right?” Stallion nodded. “I guess I should start building a portfolio in game, that way I have ideas for when I get the opportunity to actually use them.” 

“You can draw IRL too. Scan them and upload them into your gallery too.” Stallion informed him. “A guy I know did that with a tattoo he wanted his Avi to have. He took it to the tattoo parlor and they stuck it to him.” She giggled. “No pun intended.”

“Oooh, that would be fun too,” he smiled excitedly. “I’ll upload a bunch of my work next time I log in. I’m sure you’ll love it. I’ve done plenty of different styles of artwork.” 

Stallion smiled warmly. “I would love to see it. I am sure it is all amazing.”

Soon their lunch arrived, steaming hot and delicious. Ryushiro hummed as he looked at his thick piece of juicy steak, seared and seasoned perfectly. When he cut it open with his knife, the juices flowed and the center was revealed to be perfectly in between rare and well done. 

“Wow!” Ryushiro gawked at it. “I’m sure whoever had to design and program this part of the game made themselves so hungry it probably drove them mad.” He cut off a piece and bit into it. As the bite melted in his mouth, he did as well. “It’s so good. VR is so real it’s unreal.” 

Stallion could not help a chuckle at Ryushiro with his excitement over his steak. “I would love to see you with a real steak that was fixed as good if not better than that one.”

He looked at her wide-eyed, his hands pausing mid cut. “I’ve never had a steak this good IRL. None of the business meetings Dad went to allowed us to come with him. I mean, Dad is a pretty great grillmaster but…” He shook his head. “It’s not the same.” He took another bite and hummed once again. 

“Then I know just the place I am taking you when you come to visit.” She chuckled again. “I just hope I don’t have to roll you out to the car when we leave.” 

Ryushiro laughed, taking a piece of shrimp and biting into it. He set the tail back down and washed the bite down with his tea. “You might have to. You never know. Tsuki-nii may eat a lot, but I can eat quite a bit too.”

“No problem there. My dad and my brother tell me I eat like a guy. They can’t figure out why I am not as big as my car.” Stallion giggled softly. 

“That’s good. Girls who eat like birds worry me,” he frowned. “I knew a lot of girls like that in high school. They all thought if they ate so much as a bag of chips they’d blow up like a balloon. It was really concerning. But also pretty sad. Not all of it was their fault either.” He smiled at her. “But I think you’re beautiful just the way you are, no matter what. Thin or thick, you’d still be beautiful to me.” 

“Awww,” Stallion leaned forward and kissed his cheek softly. “You’re too sweet, and same here.” She turned back to her meal. “But if you dye that beautiful white hair of yours I will disown you.” She smirked, giving him a side glance to see his expression. 

He laughed and shook his head. “Nope. Never. This hair has never seen so much as a flat iron. The oil and grease was the closest it has ever come to a disaster, and that was in VR. ILR, it’s even more guarded. Like the queen’s crown jewels.” 

Stallion smiled nodding her head. “As it should be.” She took another bite of her lobster tail. 

He giggled and kissed her cheek before returning to his own meal. 

In the span of about an hour and a half, they had finished their meal and caught their plane. Ryushiro was thankful that the seats on the VR plane were much more comfortable than real life. It made the trip to Japan that much more pleasant. Thankfully SpeedRunner Online did not force its players to spend long, unfathomable amounts of time on a virtual plane, so the normal twelve-hour flight--not including layovers--only took about two hours. They enjoyed a movie during their flight, cuddling up in their seats on the plane. The two hours disappeared quickly and before they knew it, they were landing in SpeedRunner’s version of Haneda International Airport in Tokyo. 

\---

When they landed and got off the plane, it was just after three in the morning of the next day in Japan in SRO. Ryushiro found it incredibly confusing to think that he went from Japan time in reality, to LA time in VR, and then back to Japan time in VR as well. 

“This is crazy. Technically it’s the correct time for me now. But we got here in two hours,” Ryushiro placed a hand over his forehead. “When if we had done this in reality, we would have gotten here at noon here in Japan but midnight in LA… Ugh, this is making my brain hurt.” 

Stallion giggled and patted his shoulder. “Don’t think about it too hard. Look at it this way. At least we do not have to deal with baggage claim. We can just get out there and enjoy our time in Japan.”

Ryushiro perked up at that. “Oooh, that’s right. No baggage. Literally and figuratively,” he chuckled with a big smile. 

The Haneda Airport in SRO was very similar to the real one but more futuristic with holograms and blue moving sidewalks of light. They made their way towards the front entrance of the airport. Thankfully the rental car center also had a location towards the front. 

As they waited in line, Ryushiro turned to Stallion. “Should I rent the car or you?”

“You can do it since it will help start building your Visa points.” She stated as she looked around. “I have a good amount right now from traveling.” She looked back to Ryushiro. “Just none from Japan yet.”

Ryushiro nodded. It only took about twenty minutes for him to get the keys to a Toyota Camry for their three day stay in Japan. Once outside, they went to the rental parking lot and grabbed their car from space G6. Ryushiro drove since the wheel was on the right side. As he pulled out of the lot, he turned to Stallion with a smile. 

“It’s up to you, but there is a ryokan in Tokyo I would love to take you to if they have it or something similar here in SRO. Or, if you’d prefer, we can stay in a western style hotel.” 

She reached over setting her hand on top of his as it rested to the shifter of the car. “I think I like the idea of the ryokan.”

He smiled at her softly, lifting her hand up to his lips to kiss her fingers. “Off we go then. I just hope the ryokan here allows 24 hour check in. The real one ends check in at 10pm and ends check out at 8am.” 

“Most hotels in America in SRO are 24 hour check in, so it will probably be much the same here,” Stallion told him. 

Ryushiro nodded, continuing to drive. He knew the drive from the airport to Asakusa well and didn’t even need the GPS in the car to get there. Even the streets were the same. Several times during the half hour drive to Asakusa, Ryushiro forgot he was even in a VR. It was a pleasant drive. The two of them talked almost non-stop, talking about the things they wanted to do over their three day vacation. The only time they stopped talking was when they reached downtown Tokyo. 

It was a sparkling metropolis of skyscrapers and neon lights and busy roadways. It was reminiscent of New York City. The replica of the Eiffel Tower stood tall and glowing orange like a giant flare. Even though it was still the middle of the night, the city was as lively as it always was. It was a myriad of colors and people and things to do. One would never grow bored at any hour of the day or night in this city. It looked exactly like home to Ryushiro. It was like he never logged in. 

“Wow,” Stallion gawked, looking around at the sights as Ryushiro drove them through downtown. 

“Yeah, it’s spectacular alright,” Ryushiro smiled. He pointed east down a road they passed. “A few minutes that way is Kiyosumi Garden. It’s a really great spot to view sakura in the spring. And past that is Koto Hospital where Tsuki-nii and I were born. Koami Shrine and Suitengu shrine are up that way,” he pointed a little more north. 

“I might need more than a week to visit when I come see you,” She looked over at him as they made their way down the street. 

They drove further down until Ryushiro zig zagged a short way then turned right heading east. As he made his turn, he nodded towards the west. “This area is Akihabara. We’ll have to spend some time here. This is a really big otaku area. Lots of shops and arcades. There’s even maid cafes.” He turned and smirked at her. “So be ready to see a lot of cosplayers and maid costumes.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe we could cosplay if we go in there.” She shrugged as she looked over at him. “If we have time that is.” She smiled warmly, her head turning to take in more of the scenery. 

Ryushiro smirked at her. “Oooh, I can think of a few things for you to cosplay as if we do. A catgirl for one. And maybe a maid too if you don’t smack me for it.” 

Her head turned slowly as she looked over at him with a raised brow. “Are you thinking Maid for the cafe or something a little more private?” 

“Private of course,” he chuckled. “I’d never let anyone else see you in a sexy maid costume. That’s for my eyes only…” He thought for a moment then chuckled again. “Then again, both the maid and the cat are for my eyes only.” They exited the Akihabara area and into Ueno, following the public transit tracks for the train. 

Stallion tipped her head to one side as she continued to look on at Ryushiro. “So~ if I do decide to cosplay the Maid or cat for you…” she grinned at him when he gave her a quick glance then looked back to the road. “Does that mean you will cosplay one of my fave anime guys?”

“Of course… so long as their hair is white and or silver,” he laughed. “I’m kidding. I don’t mind wearing a wig.” He smiled at her deviously. “Who did you have in mind?” They slowly came closer to the portion of the tracks where they veered left. At that point, Ryushiro turned right down another main road. The signs read Taito City and soon they also read Asakusa. “Almost there,” Ryushiro announced. 

Stallion spoke, looking ahead of them with Ryushiro’s announcement of nearly being there. “You won’t have to wear a wig but you will need to wear contacts.” She gave him a side glance with a slight grin. “I think you would be a perfect match for him.” 

“Oh? So he’s got white or silver hair and different color eyes.” He hummed, turning down a side street on the right, then turning left. He stopped in front of a storefront that was both modern and old fashioned. The structure of the building looked remodeled but the front was still vintage with wood and sliding doors, paper lanterns, and lit up signposts that bore the name “Sadachiyo Sukeroku no Yado ” in Kanji. 

They got out of the car and Ryushiro deposited it into his inventory for later, glad to not have to worry about parking. He took Stallion’s hand as they walked up to the lit-up storefront. “What color are his eyes?” 

He asked as he stopped in front of an LCD screen where the wooden registry would be if this were the real world. The screen was a touch screen and offered information on the ryokan, including availability, the breakfast and dinner menu, and even users who had checked in to the ryokan. The menu informed him that they had 5 rooms available. Three of the five rooms available were larger units for 3 or more people. The last two were a one-person unit with smaller tatami mats and a two-person unit with the middle size tatami mats. 

“Teal,” Stallion stated as she reached up and tapped the room for one. “Though he is a little shorter than you, but I promise I won’t chop off your legs.” She giggled softly as she looked his way.

Ryushiro smirked. “Well, I think I know who you’re talking about.” He looked back to the menu. “As for our lodgings, we have two options. If you’re okay with a smaller space, we can go with the two-person room that has twelve tatami mats. Or, if you want more space, we can go with a three-person room that has a twelve mat space and an adjacent eight mat space. That one can be used more like a room that has a bedroom and a living room, but the two-person space only has one room which would be both living and sleeping space.”

He looked back at her. “Which one sounds better to you?” 

Looking at Ryushiro she shook her head. “Do we really need the extra room?” She looked back at the panel. “I mean we are not really going to be spending a lot of time in the room.” She looked at him again. “Just for sleeping, and if we do end up spending a day in, lounging in bed is not so bad.” She smiled at him. “What do you think?”

Ryushiro laughed and kissed her cheek. “I’m Japanese, so small spaces don’t bother me. Two-person room it is.” 

They walked through the doors, immediately greeted by a girl in a yukata standing at the front desk. The lobby was small and full but cozy. The front desk was shaped like an L and had handouts and pamphlets about the area. There was Japanese art and scrolls on the walls along with figurines and hand fans with painted calligraphy or landscapes. There were benches to sit down on, and to the right of the front desk was a hallway that was lined with shelves holding sweets, souvenirs, and artwork for sale. There was Kanji carved into the wood above the shelves and small paper lanterns were dotted around the lobby. Behind the desk was a wall with keys that were wooden and decorated with little paper tassels on the ends. Each key had a different shape on the end and a different Kanji on the paper end. 

The girl behind the desk was very obviously Japanese. She was short with long black hair in a low tied ponytail. She smiled sweetly at them and bowed. “Konbanwa! Welcome to Sadachiyo! Will you be staying with us tonight?”

Ryushiro bowed to her as well. “Yes, ma’am. We saw you have a two-person room with twelve mats available. What is your rate for three days?” 

The girl smiled once more and bowed again. “Yes of course! Our daily rate is 250 Credits, so for three days that would be 750. With breakfast and dinner for all three days, that will be an additional 200 Credits. Is this acceptable?” 

Ryushiro nodded and bowed again. “Yes, please.” 

“Very well, I’ll get you registered and you can begin your stay right away,” the girl said with a chipper tone. “My name is Chiyoko-chan, and if you need anything let me know.” She grabbed a registry book and set it in front of them. “Please sign both of your names in the book. Your room will be room number 238. Please mark that number in the box.” 

As Ryushiro and Stallion signed their names, indicating the room number, Chiyoko charged Ryushiro for the room. 950 Credits in total. Ryushiro pressed accept on his pop up screen and the room keys appeared in his and Stallion’s inventory. 

“The baths are to your left and the common area is to your right. Please remove your shoes before entering either area. The stairs to the rooms are behind the desk, right in front of the ladies’ bathing area entrance. Breakfast is served at 8am in the dining hall next to the common area, and dinner is served at 5pm in your rooms. The baths are open 24 hours a day, so please feel free to use them whenever you like.” 

Ryushiro bowed once more to Chiyoko. “Thank you, Chiyoko-san.” 

She waved at the two of them with a smile. “Please enjoy your stay with us!” 

As the two of them took the right path past the gift store shelves, Ryushiro turned to Stallion. “The common area usually has a TV, board games, cards, and things like that. There will also be yukatas in the rooms for us to wear, so we can go to our room and get comfy before we decide what we want to do first.” 

She nodded to him as she looked around the Inn, it was very quaint and charming, more so than she thought it might be. Though it was small, very small. Something she was not used to. “I have a question for you.” She said, looking at Ryushiro. When he nodded for her to proceed she continued.

“How do you live in such close quarters? I mean I love my family. I do. Really. But if I had to live in close quarters like these with them I would be locked away for murder or I would be nuttier than a Walnut tree.”

“Necessity,” Ryushiro chuckled as they climbed the stairs. “When you have so many people on such a tiny island, you have to deal with a lot of uncomfortable things. But the more money you have, the more space you can claim. My parents’ house is very comfortable by Japanese standards, but that’s because we’re fortunate enough to be well off.” 

“I get that, but even our smallest home in America has more footage than the homes here.” She looked at him quickly then back to the stairs as they walked up to them. “Even our studio apartments have more room, and that is not saying a lot.” She chuckled slightly as they reached the next floor she stopped and waited for him.

Ryushiro looked at the sign at the top of the stairs, going down the hall that pointed to their number range. “It’s definitely a compromise to live in Japan, I won’t lie.” He turned and smiled at her. “So if we ever live together IRL, I’m okay with wherever you want to live, so long as I’m with you.” 

“Well~” Stallion started. “If Japan looks anything like what I have seen in-game thus far.” She hesitated with a bright smile. “Japan, but an overly small apartment will not cut it.”

Ryushiro smirked at her and kissed her. “That’s what the settlement money is for.” 

Once they got to room 238, they stopped in front of it and he took the key out of his inventory. They unlocked the door and slid it open. It was a modest room, like most. There were tatami mats, a table in the center, storage and shelves on one side, a sliding door in the back to step out on the balcony, and a private bathroom. It felt like home to Ryushiro. 

He led her inside and closed the door behind them, taking off their shoes at the door and leaving them there. Immediately, he went for the drawers and closets next to the tokonoma alcove where some antique art pieces were displayed. Below the drawers was an empty space that held their futons, sitting cushions, a safe for storing items, and other necessities. Inside the drawers were the yukatas. There were four of them, all the same. They were a light grey color with dark grey designs and the ryokan’s emblem on them. In the closet were towels and blankets as well as space to hang clothes and coats. 

“Wow! It really is like IRL!” He took out two yukatas and held them up, smiling at her. “Shall we? I’ll help you.” He blinked. “Oh… This is a game, so it probably just changes us into them automatically, huh?” A disappointed look washed over him. 

Stallion shrugged. “We can try. Though…” She pointed a slightly bouncing index finger at him. “If I were the maker of this game. I would let the people dress themselves in them just so others could get a snicker at the dingalings that don’t know how to put one on.” She walked up to Ryushiro and took the yukatas, then leaned into him and whispered.

“Thank goodness I got you to help me.”

Ryushiro smiled and moved closer to her. He set one yukata down on the table then took her by the hand with his free one. “Should I help you then?” 

Stallion nodded slightly as her hands lifted to remove her top. Then she discarded her bottoms leaving her standing there in her undergarments. She then turned as she reached behind her and unhooked her bra and slipped it off as well. She then extended her arms behind her for Ryushiro to slip the yukata over them. “So these are the Japanese version of the American bathrobe, huh?” 

“Yup, except you can wear them anywhere and people won’t look at you weird,” Ryushiro laughed. He paused, then hummed. “Well, kinda. Some yukatas, like this one, are more for house use only. But others are for wearing out. The nicer ones are things you wear to a festival. These are for lounging, sleeping, and as a bathrobe. So you can wear this down to the bath, then take it off and bathe, then wear it back up here.” 

Once the yukata was over her shoulders, he turned her around and pulled the yukata forward by the sides. He kissed her softly as he closed the yukata tightly around her, but not too tight. He placed one of her hands on the closing then wrapped the obi around her waist. He wrapped it around twice to use the extra slack then tied it off in a knot on her side. He smiled at her then kissed her again. 

“There. Comfy cozy,” he chuckled. 

Stallion smiled and looked down at the yukata as her hands slid across the fabric. “Oddly enough,” she looked back to him. “Yes, it’s very comfy.” She giggled softly and turned in place. “How do I look in it?”

“You look amazing,” Ryushiro smiled. “It flatters your figure very well.” He took his shirt and slipped it off, then moved to remove his pants. He pushed them down, leaving himself in his boxer briefs. He slipped the yukata on and tied it off with the obi. He smiled, smoothing his hand down the sleeves. “They do feel really good.” He stooped down to take their clothes, folding them up and placing them in the drawers. Suddenly he blinked then chuckled. 

“This is going to be a weird vacation for me. I keep thinking I’m in the real world,” he smiled, standing up and placing his clothes in his inventory while Stallion did the same to hers.

“I can fully understand that. There have been times I raced in my home state and thought I was actually racing for the day.” Stallion’s head nodded slowly as she took Ryushiro’s hand and walked toward the balcony doors. “So what now?” She looked over to him then back to the doors as she slid them open.

He walked over with her, looking outside at the view. “Well, we can stay in here and break out the futons and do whatever. We can go to the common area and play a game, or we can take a bath, though the communal baths are gender separated. So if we wanted to bathe together we’d have to do it here in our room.” 

Stallion looked from the view back to Ryushiro. “Hot Springs?” It was a question and a suggestion. 

Ryushiro stepped out onto the balcony, humming to himself. If she wanted a true hot spring bath, they’d have to go to an onsen. But even then, most onsen were not co-ed. He looked down at the back courtyard of the inn only to be very surprised. There was an outdoor hot spring in the back of the inn, something the real-life one didn’t have. There were three sections, which meant it had a co-ed section. 

“Whoa! This version of Sadachiyo has an outdoor hot spring!” He looked back at Stallion with a smirk. He took her hand and led her towards the front door. “Let’s go downstairs!” 

\---

Downstairs, Ryushiro went to the front desk with Stallion. Chiyoko was still there. “Chiyoko-san, I saw that there was an outdoor hot spring here,” he mentioned to her. “Is that included with our room rental?”

Chiyoko put her hand to her mouth, gasping slightly. “Oh no! I’m so sorry! I completely forgot to tell you!” She bowed to them deeply. “The hot springs behind us are managed by the onsen directly behind us. They allow us to offer the hot springs to our guests for an extra rate. I didn’t mention it to you because I also work at this ryokan IRL. I tend to get confused since the real one doesn’t have it.” She frowned deeply. “I’m so sorry!”

Ryushiro smiled at her and shook his head. “No, please don’t apologize. I understand. I’m from Tokyo IRL too. How much are the hot springs?”

Chiyoko shook her head and waved her hands. “No no no! It’s my fault you didn’t know about them at first.” She reached underneath the counter and set three sets of two passes to the hot springs on the counter. “Please enjoy the hot springs on us for the duration of your stay. To get to them, you can go through the door at the end of the hallway with the indoor baths. The entrance will be outside. Give them the passes there.” 

Ryushiro smiled and took the passes. “Thank you, Chiyoko-san. I will be sure to pay you properly next time.” The two of them went down the left hallway all the way to the end. He turned and smiled at Stallion. “Well, that was lucky.”

Her head nodded with a soft giggle. “For us anyway.” She passed through the door as Ryushiro held it open for her. When he walked through himself she took his hand again and the two proceeded toward the hot spring. “You know,” she cuddled up next to him as they walked. “I have a portable DVD player in my inventory.” She looked over at him. Tonight we could just stay in and enjoy dinner and a movie.” 

Ryushiro held her close and tight. “Whatever you want. I’ll do anything so long as I’m with you. Do you still want to bathe in the hot springs or do you want to go back upstairs?” 

“Let’s soak in the hot spring for a bit then head back upstairs. We can order something in, watch a movie while we eat then catch a few z’s if we want. If not then we can go explore.” 

Ryushiro smiled and nodded. “I think a movie and sleep is good. This trip is making my brain catch up with me.” They reached the booth for the entrance to the hot springs. He handed the girl at the booth two of their passes. “Is the co-ed bath available.”

The girl smiled and nodded. “Yes of course.” She took their passes and punched them before handing them back. “The co-ed is the middle one. Please enjoy!” 

Ryushiro bowed to her and they continued inside the building that held the showers. Inside was a small lobby with sitting areas and three doors along the back wall, spaced out enough to compensate for the size of the showers. He turned to Stallion as they walked towards the middle door. 

“Do you know how this works? Or should I explain it?”

“Well…” Stallion looked toward the doors that led to the showers. “If it is like the ones back home.” She looked his way again. “I need to shower and change into my bathing suit or…” she shrugged. “I change into my bathing suit and shower... Then go to the hot springs?”

Ryushiro chuckled and shook his head. “Not quite. You’re half right.” They walked in to see a storage area with baskets and shelves as well as lockers. The baskets were already filled with towels and slip on shower shoes. Through the storage area were the showers. He took a basket and turned to her. 

“You put your yukata and any other clothes in here. Then you take the towel and the shoes.” He pointed to the showers which were stools with handheld shower sprayers in front along with soap, shampoo, and conditioner in front of mirrors. “Then you shower with those. You sit on the stools and use the soap and stuff to wash your body and your hair. Once your body is clean, you can take your towel and shoes to the hot springs and soak in the water. There are usually two towels so that you can use one to cover yourself in the water if you want, and use the other to dry afterward.” He looked back to her with a smile. “Any questions?” 

She looked at the stuff around them and the things Ryushiro pointed out. The area was pretty barren, or well that was what she thought until she saw another guy walk past wrapped in a towel. She turned quickly, lowering her eyes.

“You mean I have to go to the springs nude? Only a towel? Nothing else?” She shyly looked back up then to Ryushiro. “What if someone…” she leaned into him and whispered. “Someone sees me in my birthday suit?”

Ryushiro laughed and poked her cheek. “Don’t worry, it’s onsen code to be respectful. Those who aren’t get banned. Onsens are really strict.” He looked at the storage area. All the baskets were in the condition the employees put them in. “It doesn’t look like anyone is in there, so we should be okay unless someone else comes in. But usually only couples come in co-ed hot springs. So if someone does join us, it will probably be two people and they’ll most likely be focused on each other.” 

Stallion nodded slowly as she turned to face the room once more. “Alright, I can do this. I have a towel at least. It will be like getting out of the bath and walking to my room. Yeah.” She nodded her head hearing Ryushiro chuckle softly beside her. She looked his way once more pointing a finger at him.

“I won’t do this IRL, so don’t even think it.”

Ryushiro chuckled. “No public baths for Rain then. That’s okay, I’d have to growl at everyone if we did. So only private baths for us.” As Ryushiro untied his obi and rolled it up, placing it in the basket, he turned to Stallion. “So, are you nervous about us seeing each other naked?” He gave her a small smirk. 

Her head nodded slowly. “I am a little self-conscious about it, yes, but you’re not a stranger either. So it will pass.” She removed her obi and did as Ryushiro did, rolling it up and placing it in the basket.

He smiled and took off his yukata, once more leaving himself in his boxer briefs. “I understand. It’s a little nerve-wracking, but at the very least we know we won’t judge each other.” He folded the yukata neatly and placed it in the basket as well after taking out the towels and the shoes. He removed his briefs then wrapped his towel around his waist.

Shaking her head and following suit, Stallion took up her slippers and towel. She turned, stepping up to Ryushiro as she wrapped her towel around her torso. “I don’t judge, not someone I love anyway.” She kissed his cheek before she disappeared into the shower.

He chuckled, following her in. “Agreed.” 

She picked a shower station in the middle and sat down on the small stool. She turned the water on to warm then grabbed the soap in front of her as well as the clean washcloth. She turned to Ryushiro who had picked the station next to her. “So what shall we watch tonight? Anything you have been wanting to see?”

“Hmmm,” Ryushiro hummed as he lathered up with soap. “Maybe a comedy? Or an action movie.” He looked over to her with a smile. “Or… maybe a racing movie?” He laughed. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy that more.” 

Stallion chuckled as she wet her hair. “I have seen nearly all the racing movies I can handle.” She lowered her head and hands looking to Ryushiro. “Including my own.”

Ryushiro blinked at her, grabbing the nozzle to pull it closer to himself to rinse off. “Your own? You have a racing movie?!”

Chuckling, she nodded her head slowly. “Home movies, but they are still movies. My dad and brother recorded every race I was in.” She stopped what she was doing and looked pointedly at him. “I thought I told you that.” 

Ryushiro nodded head. “You did, but I didn’t think they’d be that long. I thought maybe they were shorter videos.” He smiled at her as he lathered up his hair with shampoo next. “I still would like to watch those. It would be great to see you race IRL, even if it’s just a video.” He hummed with a slight pout. “I need to get better at English too. I want to be able to understand you and talk to you when I see you.”

“We can teach each other.” She smiled warmly at him as she turned her attention to the shampoo bottle. She then quickly looked to Ryushiro. “HEY!” Ryushiro quickly looked at her blinking rapidly.

“What? Did I do something?”

Stallion chuckled shaking her head. “No. I just got a really good idea.”

He smiled at her and chuckled back. He looked at her as he rinsed his hair, his normally fluffy locks sticking to his head. “And what’s that?”

“We can teach one another right here in the game.” Stallion informed him.

“How so with the translator on. I am speaking Japanese right now and you hear English, and vice versa.”

“By turning it off.” She gestured to herself. “I do know some Japanese and you know some English. So for the next few days we turn the translator off and help one another with our native language.” 

Ryushiro nodded with a smile. “That would help a lot. After all, the best way to learn is just to practice. Also, you can watch anime with no subtitles. Or subtitles first then no subtitles.” His smile fell into a more serious one. “Do you really think we can learn well enough by the time we see each other?” 

“I think we can, and there really is no way to learn it all. I am sure we will still be teaching one another well into our relationship.” She smiled brightly. “I know that for a fact when it comes to the English language. Sooo much craziness when it comes to our language. They say it's one of the hardest to learn.” 

“I believe it,” Ryushiro nodded. He took the conditioner and added a generous amount to his palm. “After I log out and get some rest, I’m going to ask my father about having a family dinner this weekend. Hopefully tonight or Sunday night. That will give me time to tell him everything and ask about this summer and the winter. I’m not sure how he’ll react, but the best way to get him to hop on board with something is to sell it to him.” 

Stallion lathered the shampoo in her hair as she giggled lightly. “Got to break out the old sales pitch, huh?”

Ryushiro nodded with a half grimace, half smile. “Oh yes. His profession calls for it. So sometimes we have to speak his language.” 

They finished up their shower then wrapped one of their towels around them once more, making their way out to the baths for a soak before they had to turn in for the night. The rest of the night was calm and uneventful, but still relaxing and enjoyable. They watched an old racing movie with Stallion commenting on it to him before they slept and logged out. After logging out, Ryushiro himself went to sleep, worried but also excited about this weekend.


End file.
